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ADVENTURES    OF 
CAPTAIN    KETTLE 


By'^  CUTCLIFFE  '  HYNE 

Author    of    "A   Master   of    Fortune,"    Etc. 


~ 


3 


M.  A.  DONOHUE  &  COMPANY 

CHICAGO  NEW  YORK 


Copyright,  zSgB, 
tv  CUTCUFFE  HYMB 


Made  in  U.  S.  A. 


stack 
Anna 


CONTENTS 


CHAP. 

I.  The  Guns  for  Cuba I 

II.  Crown  and  Garotte 27 

III.  The  War  Steamer  of  Donna  Clotilde 54 

IV.  The  Pilgrim  Ship 77 

V.  Fortunes  Adrift loo 

VI.  The  Escape 124 

VII.  The  Pearl  Poachers 147 

VIII.  The  Liner  and  the  Iceberg 175 

IX.  The  Raiding  of  Donna  Clotilde 199 

X.  Mr.  Gedge's  Catspaw 225 

XI.  The  Salving  of  the  Duncansby  Head 255 

XIL  The  Wreck  of  the  Cattle-Boat 280 


2130010 


ADVENTURES  OF 

CAPTAIN  KETTLE. 


CHAPTER  I. 

THE  GUNS   FOR  CUBA. 

"  The  shore  part  must  lie  entirely  with  you,  sir," 
said  Captain  Kettle.  "  It's  mixed  up  with  the  For- 
eign Enlistment  Act^  and  the  Alabatna  case,  and  a 
dozen  other  things  which  may  mean  anything  be- 
tween gaol  and  confiscation,  and  my  head  isn't  big 
enough  to  hold  it.  If  you'll  be  advised  by  me,  sir, 
you'll  see  a  real  first-class  solicitor,  and  stand  him  a 
drink,  and  pay  him  down  what  he  asks  right  there 
on  the  bar  counter,  and  get  to  know  exactly  how 
the  law  of  this  business  stands  before  you  stir  foot 
in  it. 

"  The  law  here  in  England,"  said  the  little  man 
with  a  reminiscent  sigh,  "  is  a  beastly  thing  to  fall 
foul  of;  it's  just  wickedly  officious  and  interfering; 
it's  never  done  kicking  you,  once  it's  got  a  fair  start ; 
and  you  never  know  where  it  will  shove  out  its  ugly 
hoof  from  next.  No,  Mr.  Gedge,  give  me  the  States 
for  nice  comfortable  law,  where  a  man  can  buy  it  by 

X 


2  ADVENTURES   OF   CAPTAIN   KETTLE. 

the  yard  for  paper  money  down,  and  straight  pistol 
shooting  is  always  remembered  in  his  favour." 

The  young  man  who  owned  the  SS.  Sultan  of 
Borneo  tapped  his  blotting  paper  impatiently. 
"  Stick  to  the  point,  Kettle.  We're  in  England 
now,  and  have  nothing  whatever  to  do  with  legal 
matters  in  America.  As  for  your  advice,  I  am  not 
a  fool :  you  can  lay  your  ticket  on  it  I  know  to  an 
inch  how  I  stand.  And  I  may  tell  you  this :  the 
shipment  is  arranged  for." 

"  I'd  like  to  see  us  cleared,"  said  Captain  Kettle 
doubtfully. 

"  No  one  will  interfere  with  the  clearance.  The 
Sultan  of  Borneo  will  leave  here  in  coal,  consigned 
to  the  Havana.  A  private  yacht  will  meet  her  at 
sea,  and  tranship  the  arms  out  of  sight  of  land." 

"  Tyne  coal  for  Cuba  ?  They'd  get  their  coal 
there  from  Norfolk,  Virginia,  or  else  Welsh  steam 
coal  from  Cardiff  or  Newport." 

"  It  seems  not.  This  contract  was  placed  long 
before  a  ship  was  asked  for  to  smuggle  out  the 
arms." 

"  Well,  it  looks  fishy,  anyway." 

"  I  can't  help  that,"  said  Gedge  irritably.  "  I'm 
telling  you  the  naked  truth,  and  if  truth  as  usual 
looks  unlikely,  it's  not  my  fault.  Now  have  you  got 
any  more  objections  to  make  ?  " 

"  No,  sir,"  said  Captain  Kettle,  "  none  that  I  can 
see  at  present." 

"  Very  well,  then,"  said  Gedge.  "  Do  you  care  to 
sign  on  as  master  for  this  cruise,  or  are  you  going 
to  cry  off?" 

"  They'll  hang  me  if  I'm  caught,"  said  Kettle. 


THE    GUNS   FOR   CUBA.  3 

"  Not  they.  They'll  only  talk  big,  and  the  British 
Consul  will  get  you  clear.  You  bet  they  daren't  hang 
an  Englishman  for  mere  smuggling  in  Cuba.  And 
besides,  aren't  I  offering  to  raise  your  screw  from 
twelve  pound  a  month  to  fourteen  so  as  to  cover  the 
risk?  However,  you  won't  get  caught.  You'll  find 
everything  ready  for  you  ;  you'll  slip  the  rifles  ashore  ; 
and  then  you'll  steam  on  to  Havana  and  discharge 
your  coal  in  the  ordinary  humdrum  way  of  business, 
And  there's  a  ten  pound  bonus  if  you  pull  the  thing 
off  successfully.  Now  then,  Captain,  quick :  you  go 
or  you  don't  ?  " 

*'  I  go,"  said  Kettle  gloomily.  "  I'm  a  poor  man 
with  a  wife  and  family,  Mr.  Gedge,  and  I  can't  afford 
to  lose  a  berth.  But  it's  that  coal  I  can't  swallow.  I 
quite  believe  what  you  say  about  the  contract  ;  only 
it  doesn't  look  natural.  And  it's  my  belief  the  coal 
will  trip  us  up  somewhere  before  we've  done,  and 
bring  about  trouble." 

"Which  of  course  you  are  quite  a  stranger  to?  '* 
said  Gedge  slily. 

"  Don't  taunt  me  with  it,  sir,"  said  Captain  Kettle. 
"  I  quite  well  know  the  kind  of  brute  I  am  ;  trouble 
with  a  crew  or  any  other  set  of  living  men  at  sea  is 
just  meat  and  drink  to  me,  and  I'm  bitterly  ashamed 
of  the  taste.  Every  time  I  sit  underneath  our  min- 
ister in  the  chapel  here  in  South  Shields  I  grow  more 
ashamed.  And  if  you  heard  the  beautiful  poetical 
way  that  man  talks  of  peace,  and  green  fields,  and 
golden  harps,  you'd  understand." 

"Yes,  yes,"  said  Gedge;  "but  I  don't  want  any  of 
your  excellent  minister's  sermons  at  second  hand  just 
now.  Captain,  or  any  of  your  own  poetry,  thanks. 


4  ADVENTURES  OF  CAPTAIN  KETTLE. 

I'm  very  busy.  Good  morning.  Help  yourself  to 
a  cigar.  You  haul  alongside  the  coal  shoots  to  get 
your  cargo  at  two  o'clock,  and  I'll  be  on  board  to  see 
you  at  six.  Good  morning."  And  Mr.  Gedge  rang 
for  the  clerk  and  was  busily  dictating  letters  before 
Kettle  was  clear  of  the  office. 

The  little  sailor  went  down  the  grimy  stairs  and 
into  the  street,  and  made  towards  the  smelling  Tyne. 
The  black  cigar  rested  unlit  in  an  angle  of  his  mouth, 
and  he  gnawed  savagely  at  the  butt  with  his  eye- 
teeth.  He  cursed  the  Fates  as  he  walked.  Why  did 
they  use  him  so  evilly  that  he  was  forced  into  berths 
like  these?  As  a  bachelor,  he  told  himself  with  a 
sneer,  he  would  have  jumped  at  the  excitement  of 
it.  As  the  partner  of  Mrs.  Kettle,  and  the  father 
of  her  children,  he  could  have  shuddered  when  he 
threw  his  eyes  over  the  future. 

For  a  week  or  so  she  could  draw  his  half-pay  and 
live  sumptuously  at  the  rate  of  seven  pounds  a 
month.  But  afterwards,  if  he  got  caught  by  some 
angry  Spanish  war-steamer  with  the  smuggled  rifles 
under  his  hatches,  and  shot,  or  hanged,  or  imprisoned, 
or  otherwise  debarred  from  earning  income  at  his 
craft,  where  would  Mrs.  Kettle  be  then  ?  Would 
Gedge  do  anything  for  her  ?  He  drew  the  cigar  from 
his  lips,  and  spat  contemptuously  at  the  bare  idea. 
With  the  morality  of  the  affair  he  troubled  not  one 
jot.  The  Spanish  Government  and  the  Cuban  rebels 
were  two  rival  firms  who  offered  different  rates  of 
freight  according  to  the  risk,  and  he  was  employed 
as  carrier  by  those  who  paid  the  higher  price.  If 
there  was  any  right  or  wrong  about  the  question,  it 
was  a  purely  private  matter  between  Mr.  Gedge  and 


THE   GUNS   FOR  CUBA.  5 

his  God.  He,  Owen  Kettle,  was  as  impersonal  in 
the  business  as  the  ancient  Sultan  of  Borneo  herseli; 
he  was  a  mere  cog  in  some  complex  machinery ;  and 
if  he  was  earning  heaven,  it  was  by  piety  inside  the 
chapel  ashore,  and  not  by  professional  exertions 
(*n  the  interests  of  an  earthly  employer)  elsewhere. 

He  took  ferry  across  the  filthy  Tyne,  and  walked 
down  alleys  and  squalid  streets  where  coal  dust 
formed  the  mud,  and  the  air  was  sour  with  foreign 
vapours.  And  as  he  walked  he  champed  still  at  the 
unlit  cigar,  and  brooded  over  the  angularity  of  his 
fate.  But  when  he  passed  between  the  gates  of  the 
dock  company's  premises,  and  exchanged  words  with 
the  policeman  on  guard,  a  change  came  over  him. 
He  threw  away  the  cigar  stump,  tightened  his  lips, 
and  left  all  thoughts  of  personal  matters  outside  the 
door-sill.  He  was  Mr.  Gedge's  hired  servant;  his 
brain  was  devoted  to  furthering  Gedge's  interests ; 
and  all  the  acid  of  his  tongue  was  ready  to  spur  on 
those  who  did  the  manual  work  on  Gedge's  ship. 

Within  a  minute  of  his  arrival  on  her  deck,  the 
Sultan  of  Borneo  was  being  unmoored  from  the  bol- 
lards on  the  quay  ;  within  ten,  her  winches  were  clat- 
tering and  bucking  as  they  warped  her  across  to  the 
black,  straddling  coal-shoots  at  the  other  side  of  the 
dock  ;  and  within  half  an  hour  the  cargo  was  roaring 
down  her  hatches  as  fast  as  the  railway  waggons  on 
the  grimy  trestle  overhead  could  disgorge. 

The  halo  of  coal  dust  made  day  into  dusk ;  the 
grit  of  it  filled  every  cranny,  and  settled  as  an  amor- 
phous scum  on  the  water  of  the  dock ;  and  labourers 
hired  by  the  hour  toiled  at  piece-work  pace  through 
sheer  terror  at  their  employer. 


6  ADVENTURES   OF   CAPTAIN   KETTLE. 

If  his  other  faiHngs  could  have  been  eliminated, 
this  little  skipper,  with  the  red  peaked  beard,  would 
certainly  have  been,  from  an  owner's  point  of  view, 
the  best  commander  sailing  out  of  any  English  port. 
No  man  ever  wrenched  such  a  magnificent  amount 
of  work  from  his  hands.  But  it  was  those  other  fail- 
ings which  kept  him  what  he  was,  the  pitiful  knock- 
about ship-master,  living  from  hand  to  mouth,  never 
certain  of  his  berth  from  one  month's  end  to  another. 

That  afternoon  Captain  Kettle  signed  on  his  crew, 
got  them  on  board,  and  with  the  help  of  his  two 
mates  kicked  the  majority  of  them  into  sobriety ; 
he  received  a  visit  and  final  instructions  from  Mr. 
Gedge  at  six  o'clock  ;  and  by  nightfall  he  had  filled 
in  his  papers,  warped  out  of  dock,  and  stood  anx- 
iously on  the  bridge  watching  the  pilot  as  he  took 
the  steamboat  down  through  the  crowded  shipping 
of  the  river.  His  wife  stood  under  the  glow  of  an 
arc  lamp  on  the  dockhead  and  waved  him  good-bye 
through  the  gloom. 

Captain  Kettle  received  his  first  fright  as  he 
dropped  his  pilot  just  outside  the  Tyne  pierheads. 
A  man-of-war's  launch  steamed  up  out  of  the  night, 
and  the  boarding  officer  examined  his  papers  and 
asked  questions.  The  little  captain,  conscious  of 
having  no  contraband  of  war  on  board  just  then,  was 
brutally  rude ;  but  the  naval  officer  remained  stolid, 
and  refused  to  see  the  insults  which  were  pitched  at 
him.  He  had  an  unpalatable  duty  to  perform  ;  he 
quite  sympathised  with  Kettle's  feelings  over  the 
matter ;  and  he  got  back  to  his  launch  thanking  many 
stars  that  the  affair  had  ended  so  easily. 

But  Kettle  rang  on  his  engines  again  with  very 


THE   GUNS  FOR  CUBA.  7 

unpleasant  feelings.  It  was  clear  to  him  that  the 
secret  was  oozing  out  somewhere ;  that  the  Sultan 
of  Borneo  was  suspected  ;  that  his  course  to  Cuba 
would  be  beset  with  many  well-armed  obstacles ;  and 
he  forthwith  made  his  first  ruse  out  of  the  long  suc- 
cession which  were  to  follow. 

He  had  been  instructed  by  Gedge  to  steam  off 
straight  from  the  Tyne  to  a  point  deep  in  the  North 
Sea,  where  a  yacht  would  meet  him  to  hand  over 
the  consignment  of  smuggled  arms.  But  he  felt 
the  night  to  be  full  of  eyes,  and  for  a  Havana-bound 
ship  to  leave  the  usual  steam-lane  which  leads  to 
the  English  Channel  was  equivalent  to  a  confession 
of  her  purpose  from  the  outset.  So  he  took  the 
parallel  rulers  and  pencilled  off  on  his  chart  the  ste- 
reotyped course,  which  just  clears  Whitby  Rock  and 
Flamboro'  Head  ;  and  the  Sultan  of  Borneo  was  held 
steadily  along  this,  steaming  at  her  normal  nine 
knots ;  and  it  was  not  till  she  was  out  of  sight  of 
land  off  Humber  mouth,  and  the  sea  chanced  to  be 
desolate,  that  he  starboarded  his  helm  and  stood  off 
for  the  ocean  rendezvous. 

A  hand  on  the  foretopsail  yard  picked  up  the  yacht 
out  of  the  grey  mists  of  dawn,  and  by  eight  bells 
they  were  lying  hove-to  in  the  trough,  with  a  hun- 
dred yards  of  cold  grey  water  tumbling  between 
them.  The  transhipment  was  made  in  two  lifeboats, 
and  Kettle  went  across  and  enjoyed  an  extravagant 
breakfast  in  the  yacht's  cabin.  The  talk  was  all 
upon  the  Cuban  revolution.  Carnforth,  the  yacht's 
owner,  brimmed  with  it. 

"  If  you  can  run  the  blockade,  Captain,"  said  he, 
"  and  land  these  rifles,  and  the  Maxims,  and  the 


8  ADVENTURES   OF   CAPTAIN   KETTLE. 

cartridges,  they'll  be  grateful  enough  to  put  up  a 
statue  to  you.  The  revolution  will  end  in  a  snap. 
The  Spanish  troops  are  half  of  them  fever-ridden, 
and  all  of  them  discouraged.  With  these  guns  you 
are  carrying,  the  patriots  can  shoot  their  enemies 
over  the  edges  of  the  island  into  the  Caribbean  Sea. 
And  there  is  no  reason  why  you  should  get 
stopped.  There  are  filibustering  expeditions  fitted 
out  every  week  from  Key  West,  and  Tampa,  and 
the  other  Florida  ports,  and  one  or  two  have  even 
started  from  New  York  itself," 

"  But  they  haven't  got  through  ?  "  suggested  Cap- 
tain Kettle. 

"Not  all  of  them,"  Mr.  Carnforth  admitted. 
"  But  then  you  see  they  sailed  in  schooners,  and 
you  have  got  steam.  Besides,  they  started  from  the 
States,  where  the  newspapers  knew  all  about  them, 
and  so  their  arrival  was  cabled  on  to  Cuba  ahead  ; 
and  you  have  the  advantage  of  sailing  from  an 
English  port." 

"  I  don't  see  where  the  pull  comes  in,"  said  Kettle 
gloomily.  "  There  isn't  a  blessed  country  on  the 
face  of  the  globe  more  interfering  with  her  own 
people  than  England.  A  Yankee  can  do  as  he  darn 
well  pleases  in  the  filibustering  line;  but  if  a  Brit- 
isher makes  a  move  that  way,  the  blessed  law  here 
stretches  out  twenty  hands  and  plucks  him  back  by 
the  tail  before  he's  half  started.  No,  Mr.  Carnforth, 
I'm  not  sweet  on  the  chances.  I'm  a  poor  man,  and 
this  means  a  lot  to  me:  that's  why  I'm  anxious. 
You're  rich ;  you  only  stand  to  lose  the  cost  of  the 
consignment ;  and  if  that  gets  confiscated  it  won't 
mean  much  to  you." 


THE   GUNS   FOR   CUBA.  9 

Carnforth  grinned.  "  You  pay  my  business  quali- 
ties a  poor  compliment,  Captain.  You  can  bet 
your  life  I  had  money  down  in  hard  cash  before  I 
stirred  foot  in  the  matter.  The  weapons  and  the 
ammunition  were  paid  for  at  fifty  per  cent,  above 
list  prices,  so  as  to  cover  the  trouble  of  secrecy,  and 
I  got  a  charter  for  the  yacht  to  bring  the  stuff  out 
fiere  which  would  astonish  you  if  you  saw  the 
figures.  No,  I'm  clear  on  the  matter  from  this 
moment.  Captain,  but  I'll  not  deny  that  I  shall  take 
an  interest  in  your  future  adventures  with  the  cargo. 
Help  yourself  to  a  cigarette." 

"  Then  it  seems  to  me,"  said  Kettle  acidly,  "  that 
you'll  look  at  me  just  as  a  hare  set  on  to  run  for 
your  amusement  ?  " 

The  yacht-owner  laughed.  "  You  put  it  brutally," 
he  said,  "  but  that's  about  the  size  of  it.  And  if 
you  want  further  truths,  here's  one  :  I  shouldn't 
particularly  mind  if  you  were  caught." 

"  How's  that?" 

"  Because,  my  dear  skipper,  if  the  Spanish 
captured  this  consignment,  the  patriots  would  want 
another,  and  I  should  get  the  order.  Whereas,  if 
you  land  the  stuff  safely,  it  will  see  them  through 
to  the  end  of  the  war,  and  my  chance  of  making 
further  profit  will  be  at  an  end." 

"  You  have  a  very  clear  way  of  putting  it,"  said 
Captain  Kettle. 

"  Haven't  I  ?  Which  will  you  take,  green  char- 
treuse or  yellow  ?  " 

"And  Mr,  Gedge?  Can  you  tell  me,  sir,  how  he 
stands  over  this  business?" 

"  Oh,  you  bet,  Gedge  knows  when  to  come  in  out 


lO  ADVENTURES   OF   CAPTAIN   KETTLE. 

of  the  wet.  He's  got  the  old  Sultan  underwritten 
by  the  insurance  and  by  the  Cuban  agents  up  to 
double  her  value,  and  nothing  would  suit  his  books 
better  than  for  a  Spanish  cruiser  to  drop  upon  you." 

Captain  Kettle  got  up,  reached  for  his  cap,  and 
swung  it  aggressively  on  to  one  side  of  his  head. 

"Very  well,"  he  said,  "that's  your  side  of  the 
question.  Now  hear  mine.  That  cargo's  going 
through,  and  those  rebels  or  patriots,  or  whatever 
they  are,  shall  have  their  guns  if  half  the  Spanish 
navy  was  there  to  try  and  stop  me.  You  and  Mr. 
Gedge  have  started  about  this  business  the  wrong 
way.  Treat  me  on  the  square,  and  I'm  a  man  a 
child  might  handle  ;  but  I'd  not  be  driven  by  the 
Queen  of  England,  no,  not  with  the  Emperor  of 
Germany  to  help  her." 

"  Oh,  look  here.  Captain,"  said  Carnforth,  "  don't 
get  your  back  up." 

"  I'll  not  trade  with  you,"  replied  Kettle. 

"You're  a  fool  to  your  own  interests." 

"  I  know  it,"  said  the  sailor  grimly.  "  I've  known 
it  all  my  life.  If  I'd  not  been  that,  I'd  not  have 
found  myself  in  such  shady  company  as  there  is 
here  now." 

"  Look  here,  you  ruffian,  if  you  insult  me  I'll 
kick  you  out  of  this  cabin,  and  over  the  side  into 
your  own  boat." 

"All  right,"  said  Kettle;  "  start  in." 

Carnforth  half  rose  from  his  seat  and  measured 
Captain  Kettle  with  his  eye.  Apparently  the 
scrutiny  impressed  him,  for  he  sank  back  to  his  seat 
again  with  an  embarrassed  laugh.  "  You're  an  ugly 
little  devil,"  he  said. 


THE   GUNS   FOR   CUBA.  II 

"  I'm  all  that,"  said  Kettle. 

"  And  I'm  not  going  to  play  at  rough  and  tumble 
with  you  here.  We've  neither  of  us  anything  to 
gain  by  it,  and  I've  a  lot  to  lose.  I  believe  you'll 
run  that  cargo  through  now  that  you're  put  on  your 
mettle,  but  I  guess  there'll  be  trouble  for  somebody 
before  it's  dealt  out  to  the  patriot  troops.  Gad, 
I'd  like  to  be  somewhere  on  hand  to  watch  you 
do  it." 

"  I  don't  object  to  an  audience,"  said  Kettle. 

"By  Jove,  I've  half  a  mind  to  come  with  you." 

"You'd  better  not,"  said  the  little  sailor  with  glib 
contempt.  "  You're  not  the  sort  that  cares  to  risk 
his  skin,  and  I  can't  be  bothered  with  dead-head 
passengers." 

"That  settles  it,"  said  Carnforth.  "I'm  coming 
with  you  to  run  that  blockade  ;  and  if  the  chance 
comes,  my  cantankerous  friend,  I'll  show  you  I  can 
be  useful.  Always  supposing,  that  is,  we  don't 
murder  one  another  before  we  get  there." 

A  white  mist  shut  the  Channel  sea  into  a  ring, 
and  the  air  was  noisy  with  the  grunts  and  screams 
of  steamers'  syrens.  Captain  Kettle  was  standing 
on  the  Sultan  of  Borneo's  upper  bridge,  with  his 
hand  on  the  engine-room  telegraph,  which  was 
pointed  at  "  Full  speed  astern  ;"  Carnforth  and  the 
old  second  mate  stood  with  their  chins  over  the  top 
of  the  starboard  dodger  ;  and  all  three  of  them  peered 
into  the  opalescent  banks  of  the  fog. 

They  had  reason  for  their  anxiety.  Not  five 
minutes  before,  a  long  lean  torpedo-catcher  had 
raced  up  out  of  the  thickness,  and  slowed   down 


12  ADVENTURES   OF  CAPTAIN   KETTLE. 

alongside  with  the  Channel  spindrift  blowing  over 
her  low  superstructure  in  white  hail-storms.  An 
officer  on  the  upper  bridge  in  glistening  oilskins  had 
sent  across  a  sharp  authoritative  hail,  and  had  been 
answered:  ''Sultan  of  Borneo ;  Kettle,  master; 
from  South  Shields  to  the  Havana." 

"  What  cargo  ?  "  came  the  next  question. 

"  Coal." 

"  What  ?  " 

"  Coal." 

"Then  Mr.  Tyne  Coal  for  the  Havana,  just  heave 
to  whilst  I  send  away  a  boat  to  look  at  you.  I 
fancy  you  will  be  the  steamboat  I'm  sent  to  find 
and  fetch  back." 

The  decks  of  the  uncomfortable  warship  had 
hummed  with  men,  a  pair  of  boat  davits  had  swung 
outboard,  and  the  boat  had  been  armed  and  manned 
with  naval  noise  and  quickness.  But  just  then  a 
billow  of  the  fog  had  driven  down  upon  them, 
blanket-like  in  its  thickness,  which  closed  all  human 
vision  beyond  the  range  of  a  dozen  yards,  and  Cap- 
tain Kettle  jumped  like  a  terrier  on  his  opportunity. 
He  sent  his  steamer  hard  astern  with  a  slightly 
ported  helm,  and  whilst  the  torpedo-catcher's  boat 
was  searching  for  him  towards  the  French  shore, 
and  sending  vain  hails  into  the  white  banks  of  the 
mist,  he  was  circling  slowly  and  silently  round  to- 
wards the  English  coast. 

So  long  as  the  mist  held,  the  Sultan  of  Boriieo  was 
as  hard  to  find  as  a  needle  in  a  cargo  of  hay.  Did 
the  air  clear  for  so  much  as  a  single  instant,  she 
would  be  noticed  and  stand  self-confessed  by  her 
attempt  to   escape ;  and  as  a  result,  the   suspense 


THE   GUNS   FOR   CUBA.  I3 

was  vivid  enough  to  make  Carnforth  feel  physical 
nausea.  He  had  not  reckoned  on  this  complication. 
He  was  quite  prepared  to  risk  capture  in  Cuban 
waters,  where  the  glamour  of  distance  and  the  dazzle 
of  helping  insurrectionists  would  cast  a  glow  of 
romance  over  whatever  occurred.  But  to  be  caught 
in  the  English  Channel  as  a  vulgar  smuggler  for  the 
sake  of  commercial  profit,  and  to  be  haled  back  for 
hard  labour  in  an  English  gaol,  was  a  different  matter. 
He  was  a  member  of  Parliament,  and  he  understood 
these  details  in  all  their  niceties. 

But  Captain  Kettle  took  the  situation  differently. 
The  sight  of  the  torpedo-catcher  stiffened  all  the 
doubt  and  limpness  out  of  his  composition  ;  his  eye 
brightened  and  his  lips  grew  stiff;  the  scheming  to 
escape  acted  on  him  like  a  tonic ;  and  when  an  hour 
later  the  Sultan  of  Borneo  was  steaming  merrily 
down  Channel  at  top  speed  through  the  same  im- 
penetrable fog,  the  little  skipper  whistled  dance 
music  on  the  upper  bridge,  and  caught  the  notion 
for  a  most  pleasing  sonnet.  That  evening  the  crew 
came  aft  in  a  state  of  mild  mutiny,  and  Kettle 
attended  to  their  needs  with  gusto. 

He  prefaced  his  remarks  by  a  slight  exhibition 
of  marksmanship.  He  cut  away  the  vane  which 
showed  dimly  on  the  fore-topmast  truck  with  a 
single  bullet,  and  then,  after  dexterously  reloading 
his  revolver,  lounged  over  the  white  rail  of  the  upper 
bridge  with  the  weapon  in  his  hand. 

He  told  the  malcontents  he  was  glad  of  the  oppor- 
tunity to  give  them  his  views  on  matters  generally. 
He  informed  tliem  genially  that  for  their  personal 
wishes  he  cared  not  one  decimal  of  a  jot.     He  stated 


14  ADVENTURES   OF  CAPTAIN   KETTLE. 

plainly  that  he  had  got  them  on  board,  and  intended 
by  their  help  to  carry  out  his  owner's  instructions 
whether  they  hated  them  or  not.  And  finally  he 
gave  them  his  candid  assurance  that  if  any  cur 
amongst  them  presumed  to  disobey  the  least  of  his 
orders,  he  would  shoot  that  man  neatly  through  the 
head  without  further  preamble. 

This  elegant  harangue  did  not  go  home  to  all 
hands  at  once,  because  being  a  British  ship,  the 
Sultan  of  Borneo  s  crew  naturally  spoke  in  five  dif- 
ferent languages,  and  few  of  them  had  even  a  work- 
ing knowledge  of  English.  But  the  look  of  Kettle's 
savage  little  face  as  he  talked,  and  the  red  torpedo 
beard  which  wagged  beneath  it,  conveyed  to  them 
the  tone  of  his  speech,  and  for  the  time  they  did  not 
require  a  more  accurate  translation.  They  had  come 
off  big  with  the  intention  of  forcing  him  (if  neces- 
sary with  violence)  to  run  the  steamer  there  and 
then  into  an  English  port ;  they  went  forward  again 
like  a  pack  of  sheep,  merely  because  one  man  had 
let  them  hear  the  virulence  of  his  bark,  and  had 
shown  them  with  what  accuracy  he  could  bite  if 
necessary.  "  And  that's  the  beauty  of  a  mongrel 
crew,"  said  Kettle  complacently.  "  If  they'd  been 
English,  I'd  have  had  to  shoot  at  least  two  of  the 
beasts  to  keep  my  end  up  like  that." 

"  You're  a  marvel,"  Carnforth  admitted.  "  I'm  a 
bit  of  a  speaker  myself,  but  I  never  heard  a  man 
with  a  gift  of  tongue  like  you  have  got." 

"  I  am  poisonous  when  I  spread  myself,"  said 
Kettle. 

"  I  wish  I  was  clear  of  you,"  said  Carnforth,  with 
an   awkward   laugh.     "  Whatever  possessed  me  to 


THE   GUNS   FOR   CUBA.  1 5 

leave   the   yacht   and  come    on  this   cruise  I  can't 
think." 

"  Some  people  never  do  know  when  they're  well 
off,"  said  Kettle.  "  Well,  sir,  you're  in  for  it  now, 
and  you  may  see  things  which  will  be  of  service  to 
you  afterwards.  You  ought  to  make  your  mark  in 
Parliament  if  you  do  get  back  from  this  trip.  You'll 
have  something  to  talk  about  that  men  will  like  to 
listen  to,  instead  of  merely  chattering  wind,  which 
is  what  most  of  them  are  put  to,  so  far  as  I  can  see 
from  the  papers.  And  now,  sir,  here's  the  steward 
come  to  tell  us  tea's  ready.  You  go  below  and  tuck 
in.  I'll  take  mine  on  the  bridge  here.  It  won't  do 
for  me  to  turn  my  back  yet  awhile,  or  else  those 
beasts  forrard  will  jump  on  us  from  behind  and 
murder  the  whole  lot  whilst  we  aren't  looking." 

The  voyage  from  that  time  onwards  was  for  Cap- 
tain Kettle  a  period  of  constant  watchfulness.  It 
would  not  be  true  to  say  that  he  never  took  off  his 
clothes  or  never  slept ;  but  whether  he  was  in  pyja- 
mas in  the  chart-house,  or  whether  he  was  sitting  on 
an  upturned  ginger-beer  case  under  the  shelter  of 
one  of  the  upper  bridge  canvas  dodgers,  with  his 
tired  eyes  shut  and  the  red  peaked  beard  upon  his 
chest,  it  was  always  the  same,  he  was  ever  ready  to 
spring  instantly  upon  the  alert. 

One  dark  night  an  iron  belaying-pin  flew  out  of 
the  blackness  of  the  forecastle  and  whizzed  within 
an  inch  of  his  sleeping  head ;  but  he  roused  so 
quickly  that  he  was  able  to  shoot  the  thrower 
through  the  shoulder  before  he  could  dive  back 
again  through  the   forecastle   door.     And  another 


l6  ADVENTURES    OF   CAPTAIN  KETTLE. 

time  when  a  powdering  gale  had  kept  him  on  the 
bridge  for  forty-eight  consecutive  hours,  and  a  depu- 
tation of  the  deck  hands  raided  him  in  the  chart- 
house  on  the  supposition  that  exhaustion  would 
have  laid  him  out  in  a  dead  sleep,  he  woke  before 
their  fingers  touched  him,  broke  the  jaw  of  one  with 
a  camp-stool,  and  so  maltreated  the  others  with  the 
same  weapon,  that  they  were  glad  enough  to  run 
away  even  with  the  exasperating  knowledge  that 
they  left  their  taskmaster  undamaged  behind  them. 

So,  although  this  all-nation  crew  of  the  Sultan  of 
Borneo  dreaded  the  Spaniards  much,  they  feared 
Captain  Kettle  far  more,  and  by  the  time  the  steamer 
had  closed  up  with  the  island  of  Cuba,  they  had  con- 
cluded to  follow  out  their  skipper's  orders,  as  being 
the  least  of  the  two  evils  which  lay  before  them. 

Carnforth's  way  of  looking  at  the  matter  was 
peculiar.  He  had  all  a  healthy  man's  appetite  for 
adventure,  and  all  a  prosperous  man's  distaste  for 
being  wrecked.  He  had  taken  a  strong  personal  liking 
for  the  truculent  little  skipper,  and,  other  things  being 
equal,  would  have  cheerfully  helped  him  ;  but  on 
the  other  hand,  he  could  not  avoid  seeing  that  it 
was  to  his  own  interests  that  the  crew  should  get 
their  way,  and  keep  the  steamer  out  of  dangerous 
waters.  And  so,  when  finally  he  decided  to  stand 
by  non-interferent,  he  prided  himself  a  good  deal  on 
his  forbearance,  and  said  so  to  Kettle  in  as  many 
words. 

That  worthy  mariner  quite  agreed  with  him. 
"  It's  the  very  best  thing  you  could  do,  sir,"  he 
answered.  "  It  would  have  annoyed  me  terribly  to 
have  had  to  shoot  you  outof  mischief's  way,  because 


THE   GUNS   FOR   CUBA.  I7 

you've  been  kind  enough  to  say  you  like  my  poetry, 
and  because  I've  come  to  see,  sir,  you're  a  gentleman." 

They  came  to  this  arrangement  on  the  morning 
of  the  day  they  opened  out  the  secluded  bay  in  the 
southern  Cuban  shore  where  the  contraband  of  war 
was  to  be  run.  Kettle  calculated  his  whereabouts 
with  niceness,  and,  after  the  midday  observation, 
lay  the  steamer  to  for  a  couple  of  hours,  and  him- 
self supervised  his  engineers  whilst  they  gave  a  good 
overhaul  to  the  machinery.  Then  he  gave  her 
steam  again,  and  made  his  landfall  four  hours  after 
the  sunset. 

They  saw  the  coast  first  as  a  black  line  running 
across  the  dim  grey  of  the  night.  It  rose  as  they 
neared  it,  and  showed  a  crest  fringed  with  trees,  and 
a  foot  steeped  in  white  mist,  from  out  of  which 
came  the  faint  bellow  of  surf.  Captain  Kettle,  after 
a  cast  or  two,  picked  up  his  marks  and  steamed  in 
confidently,  with  his  side-lights  dowsed,  and  three 
red  lanterns  in  a  triangle  at  his  foremast  head.  He 
was  feeling  pleasantly  surprised  with  the  easiness  of 
it  all. 

But  when  the  steamer  had  got  well  into  the  bight 
of  the  bay,  and  all  the  glasses  on  the  bridge  were  peer- 
ing at  the  shore  in  search  of  answering  lights,  a  blaze 
of  radiance  suddenly  flickered  on  to  her  from  astern, 
and  was  as  suddenly  eclipsed,  leaving  them  for  a 
moment  blinded  by  its  dazzle.  It  was  a  long  trun- 
cheon of  light  which  sprouted  from  a  glowing  centre 
away  between  the  heads  of  the  bay,  and  they  watched 
it  sweep  past  them  over  the  surface  of  the  water, 
and  then  sweep  back  again.  Finally,  after  a  little 
more  dalliance,  it  settled  on  the  steamer  and  lit  her, 
a 


l8  ADVENTURES   OF   CAPTAIN   KETTLE. 

and  the  ring  of  water  on  which  she  swam,  like  a 
ship  in  a  lantern  picture. 

Carnforth  swore  aloud,  and  Captain  Kettle  lit  a 
fresh  cigar.  Those  of  the  mongrel  crew  who  were 
on  the  deck  went  below  to  pack  their  bags. 

"  Well,  sir,"  said  Kettle  cheerfully,  "  here  we  are. 
That's  a  Spanish  gunboat  with  searchlight,  all  com- 
plete " — he  screwed  up  his  eyes  and  gazed  astern 
meditatively.  "  She's  got  the  heels  of  us  too  ;  by 
about  five  knots  I  should  say.  Just  look  at  the 
flames  coming  out  of  her  funnels.  Aren't  they  just 
giving  her  ginger  down  in  the  stokehold  ?  Shoot- 
ing will  begin  directly,  and  the  other  blackguards 
ashore  have  apparently  forgotten  all  about  us. 
There  isn't  a  light  anywhere." 

"  What  are  you  going  to  do  ?  "  asked  Carnforth. 

**  Follow  out  Mr.  Gedge's  instructions,  sir,  and 
put  this  cargo  on  the  beach.  Whether  the  old 
Sultan  goes  there  too,  remains  to  be  seen." 

"  That  gunboat  will  cut  you  off  in  a  quarter  of  an 
hour  if  you  keep  on  this  course." 

"  With  that  extra  five  knots  she  can  do  as  she 
likes  with  us,  so  I  sha'n't  shift  my  helm.  It  would 
only  look  suspicious." 

"  Good  Lord  !  "  said  Carnforth,  "  as  if  our  being 
here  at  all  isn't  suspicion  itself." 

But  Kettle  did  not  answer.  He  had,  to  use  his 
own  expression,  "  got  his  wits  working  under  forced 
draught,"  and  he  could  not  afford  time  for  idle  specu- 
lation and  chatter.  It  was  the  want  of  the  an- 
swering signal  ashore  which  upset  him.  Had  that 
showed  against  the  black  background  of  hills,  he 
would  have  known  what  to  do. 


THE   GUNS  FOR  CUBA.  I9 

Meanwhile  the  Spanish  warship  was  closing  up 
with  him  handover  fist, and  decision  was  necessary. 
Anyway,  the  choice  was  a  poor  one.  If  he  surren- 
dered he  would  be  searched,  and  with  that  damning 
cargo  of  rifles  and  machine  guns  and  ammunition 
under  his  hatches,  it  was  not  at  all  improbable  that 
his  captors  might  string  him  up  out  of  hand.  They 
would  have  right  on  their  side  for  doing  so. 

The  insurrectionists  were  not  "  recognised  belli- 
gerents"; he  would  stand  as  a  filibuster  confessed  ; 
and  as  such  would  be  due  to  suffer  under  that  rough 
and  ready  martial  law  which  cannot  spare  time  to 
feed  and  gaol  prisoners. 

On  the  other  hand,  if  he  refused  to  heave  to  the 
result  would  be  equally  simple  ;  the  warship  would 
sink  him  with  her  guns  inside  a  dozen  minutes; 
and  reckless  dare-devil  though  he  might  be,  Kettle 
knew  quite  well  there  was  no  chance  of  avoiding  this. 

With  another  crew  he  might  have  been  tempted 
to  lay  his  old  steamer  alongside  the  other,  and  try 
to  carry  her  by  boarding  and  sheer  hand-to-hand 
fighting ;  but,  excepting  for  those  on  watch  in  the 
stokehold,  his  present  set  of  men  were  all  below 
packing  their  belongings  into  portable  shape,  and 
he  knew  quite  well  that  nothing  would  please  them 
better  than  to  see  him  discomfited.  Carnforth  was 
neutral ;  he  had  only  his  three  mates  and  the  en- 
gineer officers  to  depend  upon  in  all  the  available 
world  ;  and  he  recognised  between  deep  draughts 
at  his  cigar  that  he  was  in  a  very  tight  place. 

Still  the  dark  shore  ahead  remained  unbeaconed, 
and  the  Spaniard  was  racing  up  astern,  lit  for  battle, 
with  her  crew  at  quarters,  and  guns  run  out  and 


20  ADVENTURES  OF  CAPTAIN  KETTLE. 

loaded.  She  leapt  nearer  by  fathoms  to  the  second, 
till  Kettle  could  hear  the  panting  of  her  engines  as 
she  chased  him  down.  His  teeth  chewed  on  the 
cigar  butt,  and  dark  rings  grew  under  his  eyes.  He 
could  have  raged  aloud  at  his  impotence. 

The  war  steamer  ranged  up  alongside,  slowed  to 
some  forty  revolutions  so  as  to  keep  her  place,  and 
an  officer  on  the  top  of  her  chart-house  hailed  in 
Spanish. 

"Gunboat  ahoy,"  Kettle  bawled  back;  "you 
must  speak  English  or  I  can't  be  civil  to  you." 

"  What  ship  is  that  ?  " 

"  Sultan  of  Borneo,  Kettle,  master.  Out  of 
Shields." 

"Where  for?" 

"The  Havana.** 

Promptly  the  query  came  back :  "  Then  what  are 
you  doing  in  here  ?  " 

Carnforth  whispered  a  suggestion.  "  Freshwater 
run  out ;  condenser  water  given  all  hands  dysentery  ; 
put  in  here  to  fill  up  tanks." 

"  I  thank  you,  sir,"  said  Kettle  in  the  same  under- 
tone, "  I'm  no  hand  at  lying  myself,  or  I  might 
have  thought  of  that  before."  And  he  shouted  the 
excuse  across  to  the  spokesman  on  the  chart-house 
roof. 

To  his  surprise  they  seemed  to  give  weight  to  it. 
There  was  a  short  consultation,  and  the  steamers 
slipped  along  over  the  smooth  black  waters  of  the 
bay  on  parallel  courses. 

"Have  you  got  dysentery  bad  aboard?"  came 
the  next  question. 

Once  more  Carnforth  prompted,  and  Kettle  re- 


THE  GUNS   FOR  CUBA.  21 

peated  his  words :  "  Look  at  my  decks,"  said  he. 
"All  my  crew  are  below.  I've  hardly  a  man  to 
stand  by  me." 

There  was  more  consultation  among  the  gunboat's 
officers,  and  then  came  the  fatal  inquiry  :  "  What's 
your  cargo,  Captain?  " 

"  Oh,  coals,"  said  Kettle  resignedly. 

"  What  ?  You're  bringing  Tyne  coal  to  the 
Havana  ?  " 

"Just  coals,"  said  Captain  Kettle  with  a  bitter 
laugh. 

The  tone  of  the  Spaniard  changed.  "  Heave  to 
at  once,"  he  ordered,  "  whilst  I  send  a  boat  to  search 
you.     Refuse,  and  I'll  blow  you  out  of  water." 

On  the  Sultan  of  Borneo's  upper  bridge  Carnforth 
swore.  "  Eh-ho,  Skipper,"  he  said,  "  the  game's 
up,  and  there's  no  way  out  of  it.  You  won't  be  a 
fool,  will  you,  and  sacrifice  the  ship  and  the  whole 
lot  of  us  ?  Come,  I  say,  man,  ring  off  your  engines, 
or  that  fellow  will  shoot,  and  we  shall  all  be  murdered 
uselessly.     I  tell  you,  the  game's  up," 

"  By  James !  "  said  Kettle,  "  is  it  ?  Look  there  " 
— and  he  pointed  with  outstretched  arm  to  the  hills 
on  the  shore  ahead.  "  Three  fires  !"  he  cried.  "Two 
above  one  in  a  triangle,  burning  like  Elswick  fur- 
naces amongst  the  trees.  They're  ready  for  us  over 
yonder,  Mr.  Carnforth,  and  that's  their  welcome. 
Do  you  think  I'm  going  to  let  my  cargo  be  stopped 
after  getting  it  this  far  ?  "  He  turned  to  the  Danish 
quarter-master  at  the  wheel,  with  his  savage  face 
close  to  the  man's  ear. 

"  Starboard,"  he  said.  "  Hard  over,  you  bung- 
eyed  Dutchman.     Starboard  as  far  as  she'll  go." 


22  ADVENTURES   OF   CAPTAIN   KETTLE. 

The  wheel  engines  clattered  briskly  in  the  houst 
underneath,  and  the  Sultatt  of  Borneo's  head  swung 
off  quickly  to  port.  For  eight  seconds  the  officer 
commanding  the  gunboat  did  not  see  what  was  hap- 
pening, and  that  eight  seconds  was  fatal  to  his  vessel. 
When  the  inspiration  came,  he  bubbled  with  orders, 
he  starboarded  his  own  helm,  he  rang  "  full  speed 
ahead  "  to  his  engines,  and  ordered  every  rifle  and 
machine  gun  on  his  ship  to  sweep  the  British 
steamer's  bridge.  But  the  space  of  time  was  too 
small.  The  gunboat  could  not  turn  with  enough 
quickness  ;  on  so  short  a  notice  the  engines  could 
not  get  her  into  her  stride  again  ;  and  the  shooting, 
though  well  intentioned  and  prodigious  in  quantity, 
was  poor  in  aim.  The  bullets  xvhisped  through  the 
air,  and  pelted  on  the  plating  like  a  hailstorm,  and 
one  of  them  flicked  out  the  brains  of  the  Danish 
quarter-master  on  the  bridge ;  but  Kettle  took  the 
wheel  from  his  hands,  and  a  moment  later  the  Sultan 
of  Borneo' s  stem  crashed  into  the  gunboat's  unpro- 
tected side  just  abaft  the  sponson  of  her  starboard 
quarter  gun. 

The  steamers  thrilled  like  kicked  biscuit-boxes, 
and  a  noise  went  up  into  the  hot  night  sky  as  of  ten 
thousand  boiler  makers,  all  heading  up  their  rivets 
at  once. 

On  both  ships  the  propellers  stopped  as  if  by  in- 
stinct, and  then  in  answer  to  the  telegraph,  the 
grimy  collier  backed  astern.  But  the  war-steamer 
did  not  move.  Her  machinery  was  broken  down. 
She  had  already  got  a  heavy  list  towards  her 
wounded  side,  and  every  second  the  list  was  increas- 
ing as  the  sea  water  poured  in  through  the  shat- 


THE  GUNS   FOR  CUBA.  2$ 

tered  plates.  Her  crew  was  buzzing  with  disorder. 
It  was  evident  that  the  vessel  had  but  a  short  time 
longer  to  swim,  and  their  lives  were  sweet  to  them. 
They  had  no  thought  of  vengeance.  Their  weapons 
lay  deserted  on  the  sloping  decks.  The  grimy  crews 
from  the  stokeholds  poured  up  from  below,  and 
one  and  all  they  clustered  about  the  boats  with 
frenzied  haste  to  see  them  floating  in  the  water. 

There  was  no  more  to  be  feared  at  their  hands  for 
the  present. 

Carnforth  clapped  Kettle  on  the  shoulder  in 
involuntary  admiration.  "  By  George,"  he  cried, 
"  what  a  daring  little  scoundrel  you  are  !  Look  here, 
I'm  on  your  side  now  if  I  can  be  of  any  help.  Can 
you  give  me  a  job  ?  " 

"  I'm  afraid,  sir,"  said  Captain  Kettle,  "  that  the 
old  Sultan  s  work  is  about  done.  She's  settling 
down  by  the  head  already.  Didn't  you  see  those 
rats  of  men  scuttling  up  from  forrard  directly  after 
we'd  rammed  the  Don  ?  I  guess  that  was  a  bit  of  a 
surprise  packet  for  them  anyway.  They  thought 
they'd  get  down  there  to  be  clear  of  the  shooting, 
and  they  found  themselves  in  the  most  ticklish  part 
of  the  ship." 

"  There's  humour  in  the  situation,"  said  Carnforth. 
"  But  that  will  keep.  For  the  present,  it  strikes  me 
that  this  old  steamboat  is  swamping  fast." 

"She's  doing  that,"  Kettle  admitted.  "She'll 
have  a  lot  of  plates  started  forrard,  I  guess.  But  I 
think  she's  come  out  of  it  very  creditably,  sir.  I 
didn't  spare  her,  and  she's  not  exactly  built  for  a  ram." 

"  I  suppose  it's  a  case  of  putting  her  on  the 
beach?" 


24  ADVENTURES   OF   CAPTAIN   KETTLE. 

"  There's  nothing  else  for  it,"  said  Kettle  with  a 
sigh.  *'  I  should  like  to  have  carried  those  blessed 
coals  in  to  the  Havana  if  it  could  have  been  done,  just 
to  show  people  ours  was  a  bond  fide  contract,  as  Mr. 
Gedge  said,  in  spite  of  its  fishy  look.  But  this  old 
steamboat's  done  her  whack,  and  that's  the  square 
truth.  It  will  take  her  all  she  can  manage  to  reach 
shore  with  dry  decks.  Look,  she's  in  now  nearly  to 
her  forecastle  head.  Lucky  the  shore's  not  steep-to 
here,  or  else " 

From  beneath  there  came  a  bump  and  a  rattle,  and 
the  steamer  for  a  moment  halted  in  her  progress, 
and  a  white-crested  wave  surged  past  her  rusty 
flanks.  Then  she  lifted  again  and  swooped  further 
in,  with  the  propeller  still  squattering  astern  ;  and 
then  once  more  she  thundered  down  again  into  the 
sand  ;  and  so  lifting  and  striking,  made  her  way  in 
through  the  surf. 

More  than  one  of  the  hands  was  swept  from  her 
decks,  and  reached  the  shore  by  swimming  ;  but  as 
the  ebb  made,  the  hungry  seas  left  her  stranded  dry 
under  the  morning's  light,  and  a  crowd  of  insurrec- 
tionists waded  out  and  climbed  on  board  by  ropes 
which  were  thrown  to  them. 

They  were  men  of  every  tint,  from  the  grey  black 
of  the  pure  negro  to  the  sallow  lemon  tint  of  the 
blue-blooded  Spaniard.  They  were  streaked  with 
wounds,  thin  as  skeletons,  and  clad  more  with  naked- 
ness than  with  rags ;  and  so  wolfish  did  they  look 
that  even  Kettle,  callous  little  ruffian  though  he 
was,  half  regretted  bringing  arms  for  such  a  crew  to 
wreak  vengeance  on  their  neighbours. 

But  they  gave  him  small  time  for  sentiment  of 


THE   GUNS   FOR   CUBA.  2$ 

this  brand.  They  clustered  round  him  with  leap- 
ing hands,  till  the  morning  sea-fowl  fled  affrighted 
from  the  beach.  El  Senor  Capitan  Inglese  was  the 
saviour  of  Cuba,  and  let  every  one  remember  it. 
Alone,  with  his  unarmed  vessel,  he  had  sunk  a  war- 
ship of  their  hated  enemies  ;  and  they  prayed  him 
(in  their  florid  compliment)  to  stay  on  the  island  and 
rule  over  them  as  king. 

But  the  little  sailor  took  them  literally.  "  What's 
this  ?  "  he  said  ;  "  you  want  me  to  be  your  blooming 
king?" 

"  El  rey  !  "  they  shouted.  "  El  rey  de  los  Cuba- 
fios!" 

"  By  James,"  said  Kettle,  "  I'll  do  it.  I  was  never 
asked  to  be  a  king  before,  and  the  chance  may  never 
come  again.  Besides,  I'm  out  of  a  berth  just  now, 
and  England  will  be  too  hot  to  hold  me  yet  awhile. 
Yes,  I'll  stay  and  boss  you,  and  if  you  can  act  half 
as  ugly  as  you  look,  we'll  give  the  Dons  a  lively 
time.  Only  remember  there's  no  tomfoolery  about 
me.  If  I'm  king  of  this  show,  I'm  going  to  carry 
a  full  king's  ticket,  and  if  there's  any  man  tries  to 
meddle  without  being  invited,  that  man  will  go  to 
his  own  funeral  before  he  can  think  twice.  And 
now  we'll  just  begin  business  at  once.  Off  with 
those  hatches  and  break  out  that  cargo.  I've  been 
at  some  pains  to  run  these  guns  out  here,  so  be  care- 
ful in  carrying  them  up  the  beach.  Jump  lively 
now,  you  black-faced  scum." 

Carnforth  listened  with  staring  eyes.  What  sort 
of  broil  was  this  truculent  little  scamp  going  to  mix 
in  next?  He  knew  enough  of  Spanish  character  to 
understand  clearly  that  the  offer  of  the  crown  was 


26  ADVENTURES   OF   CAPTAIN   KETTLE. 

merely  an  empty  civility  ;  he  understood  enough  of 
Kettle  to  be  sure  that  he  had  not  taken  it  as  such, 
and  would  assert  his  rights  to  the  bitter  end.  And 
when  he  thought  of  what  that  end  must  inevitably 
be,  he  sighed  over  Owen  Kettle's  fate. 


CHAPTER  II. 

CROWN  AND   GAROTTE. 

"  We  will  garotte  el  Senor  Kettle  with  due  form 
and  ceremony,"  said  the  mulatto,  with  an  ugly 
smile.  "  The  saints  must  have  sent  us  this  machine 
on  purpose." 

He  threw  away  the  cigarette  stump  from  his  yel- 
low fingers,  and  began  to  knot  a  running  bowline  on 
the  end  of  a  rawhide  rope.  "  I  will  do  myself  the 
honour  of  capturing  him.  He  covered  me  with  that 
revolver  of  his  this  morning,  and  put  me  to  shame 
before  the  men.     I  have  not  forgotten." 

"  And  the  other  Englishman  ?  "  said  the  ex-priest. 
**  He  fought  well  for  us  in  the  morning.  He  is 
brave." 

*'  And  so  is  far  too  dangerous  to  be  left  alive, 
padre,  after  we  garotte  the  sailor." 

"  My  dear  Cuchillo,"  said  the  ecclesiastic,  "  you 
are  so  abominably  bloodthirsty.  But  I  suppose 
you  are  right.  I  will  come  with  you,  and  if  the  man 
shows  trouble,  I  will  shoot  him  where  he  sits."  He 
and  the  mulatto  got  up  as  he  spoke,  and  the  other 
men  rose  also,  and  the  six  of  them  left  the  ingenio 
silently  on  the  side  away  from  the  camp.  The 
jungle  growths  of  the  ruined  plantation  swallowed 
them  out  of  sight.     They  held  along  their  way  si- 

27 


28  ADVENTURES  OF  CAPTAIN   KETTLE. 

lently  and  confidently,  like  men  well  skilled  in  wood- 
craft. With  primitive  cunning  they  had  arranged 
to  make  their  attack  from  the  rear. 

The  noise  of  their  chatter  ceased,  and  from  the 
distance  there  went  up  into  the  hot,  tropical  night 
faint  snatches  of  the  "  Swanee  River,"  sung  by  a 
Louisiana  negro,  who  had  grown  delirious  from  a 
wound. 

In  the  meanwhile  the  two  Englishmen  were  tak- 
ing their  tobacco  barely  a  couple  of  hundred  yards 
away.  They  had  built  a  small  fire  of  green  wood, 
and  were  sitting  in  the  alley  of  smoke  as  some  refuge 
from  the  swarming  mosquitos,  and  the  conversation 
ran  upon  themselves  and  their  own  prospects. 

"  I  don't  want  to  mess  about  with  a  crown,"  Cap- 
tain Kettle  was  saying.  "  A  cheese-cutter  cap's 
good  enough  for  me ;  or,  seeing  that  Cuba's  hot,  a 
pith  helmet  might  be  preferable,  if  we  are  going  in 
for  luxury."  He  peered  through  the  smoke  wreaths 
at  the  camp  of  the  revolutionists,  a  naked  bivouac 
chopped  from  amongst  the  canes,  and  strewn  with 
sleeping  men  who  moaned  in  their  dreams.  The 
ruined  ingenio  at  the  further  side  had  its  white  walls 
smeared  with  smoke.  The  place  ached  with  poverty 
and  squalor. 

"Not  that  there  seems  much  luxury  here,"  he 
went  on.  "  These  beauties  haven't  a  sound  pair  of 
breeches  amongst  them,  and  if  it  wasn't  for  the 
rifles  and  ammunition  we  brought  ashore  from  the 
poor  old  Sultan,  sir,  I'd  say  they'd  just  starve  td 
death  before  they  kicked  the  Spaniards  out  of  the 
island.  But  if  ugliness  means  pluck,  there  should 
be  none  better  as  fighting  men  ;  and  when  we  get 


CROWN   AND    GAROTTE.  2g 

to  bossing  them  properly,  you'll  see  we  shall  just 
make  this  revolutionary  business  hum.  You  are 
going  to  stay  on  and  help,  Mr.  Carnforth  ?  " 

The  big  man  in  the  shooting  coat  gave  a  rueful 
laugh.  **  You've  got  my  promise,  Kettle.  I  don't 
see  any  way  of  backing  out  of  it." 

"  I  thank  you  for  that,  sir,"  said  the  sailor  with  a 
bow.  "  When  I  come  to  be  formally  made  King  of 
these  Cubans,  you  shall  find  I  am  not  ungrateful. 
I  am  not  a  man  to  neglect  either  my  friends  or  my 
enemies. 

"  You  shall  sign  on  as  Prime  Minister,  Mr.  Carn- 
forth, when  we  get  the  show  regularly  in  commission, 
and  I'll  see  you  make  a  good  thing  out  of  it.  Don't 
you  get  the  notion  it'll  be  a  bit  like  the  dreary  busi- 
ness you  were  used  to  in  Parliament  in  England. 
Empty  talk  is  not  to  my  taste,  and  I'll  not  set  up  a 
Parliament  here  to  encourage  it.  I'm  going  to  hold 
a  full  King's  ticket  myself,  and  it  won't  do  for  any- 
one to  forget  it." 

"  You  seem  very  anxious  for  power.  Captain." 

"It's  a  fact,  sir,"  said  the  other  with  a  sigh,  "I 
do  like  to  have  the  ordering  of  men.  But  don't  you 
think  that's  the  only  reason  I'm  taking  on  with  this 
racket.  I'm  a  man  with  an  income  to  make,  and  I'm 
out  of  a  berth  elsewhere.  I'm  a  man  with  a  family, 
sir." 

"  I  am  a  bachelor,"  said  Carnforth,  "  and  I'm 
thanking  heaven  for  it  this  minute.  Doesn't  it 
strike  you,  Captain,  that  this  is  no  sort  of  job  for 
a  married  man?  Can't  you  see  it's  far  too 
risky  ? '' 

*'  Big  pay,  big  risk ;  that's  always  the  way,  sir,  and 


30  ADVENTURES   OF   CAPTAIN   KETTLE. 

as  I've  faced  ugly  places  before  and  come  out  top 
side,  there's  no  reason  why  I  shouldn't  do  it  again 
here.  Indeed,  it's  the  thought  of  my  wife  that's 
principally  pushing  me  on.  During  all  the  time 
we've  been  together,  Mr.  Carnforth,  I've  never  been 
able  to  give  Mrs.  Kettle  the  place  I'd  wish. 

"  She  was  brought  up,  sir,  as  the  daughter  of  a 
minister  of  religion,  and  splendidly  educated  ;  she 
can  play  the  harmonium  and  do  crewel-work;  and, 
though  I'll  not  deny  I  married  her  from  behind  a 
bar,  I  may  tell  you  she  only  took  to  business  from 
a  liking  to  see  society."  He  looked  out  dreamily 
through  the  smoke  at  the  fireflies  which  were  wink- 
ing across  the  black  rim  of  the  forest. 

"  I'd  like  to  see  her,  Mr.  Carnforth,  with  gold 
brooches  and  chains,  and  a  black  satin  dress,  and  a 
bonnet  that  cost  20s.,  sitting  in  Government  House, 
with  the  British  Consul  on  the  mat  before  her,  wait- 
ing till  she  chose  to  ask  him  to  take  a  chair  and 
talk.  She'd  fill  the  position  splendidly,  and  I've 
just  got  to  wade  in  and  get  it  for  her." 

The  little  man  broke  off  and  stared  out  at  the 
fireflies,  and  Carnforth  coughed  the  wood-smoke 
from  his  lungs  and  rammed  fresh  tobacco  into  his 
pipe.  He  was  a  man  with  a  fine  sense  of  humour, 
and  he  appreciated  to  the  full  the  ludicrousness  of 
Kettle's  pretensions.  The  sailor  had  run  a  cargo  of 
much  wanted  contraband  of  war  on  to  the  Cuban 
beach,  had  sunk  a  Spanish  cruiser  in  the  process, 
and  had  received  effusive  thanks. 

But  he  had  taken  the  florid  metaphor  of  the  coun- 
try to  mean  a  literal  offer,  and  when  in  their  com- 
plimentary phrase  they  shouted  that  he  should  be 


CROWN  AND   GAROTTE.  3I 

king,  a  king  from  that  moment  he  intended  to  be. 
The  comedy  of  the  situation  was  irresistible. 

But  at  the  same  time  Mr.  Martin  Carn forth  was 
a  man  of  wealth,  and  a  man  (in  England)  of  assured 
position  ;  and  he  could  not  avoid  seeing  that  by  his 
present  association  with  Captain  Owen  Kettle  he 
was  flirting  with  ugly  tragedy  every  moment  that 
he  lived.  Yet  here  he  was  pinned,  not  only  to  keep 
in  the  man's  society,  but  to  help  him  in  his  mad  en- 
deavours. 

He  would  gladly  have  forfeited  half  his  fortune 
to  be  snugly  back  in.  St.  Stephen's,  Westminster, 
clear  of  the  mess ;  but  escape  was  out  of  the  ques- 
ion  ;  and,  moreover,  he  knew  quite  well  that  trying 
to  make  Kettle  appreciate  his  true  position  would 
be  like  an  attempt  to  reason  with  the  winds  or  the 
surf  on  an  ocean  beach.  So  he  held  his  tongue,  and 
did  as  he  was  bidden.  He  was  a  man  of  physical 
bravery,  and  the  rush  of  actual  fighting  that  morn- 
ing had  come  pleasantly  to  him. 

It  was  only  when  he  thought  of  the  certain  and 
treacherous  dangers  of  the  future,  and  the  cosy 
niche  that  awaited  him  at  home  in  England,  that 
his  throat  tickled  with  apprehension,  and  he  caressed 
with  affectionate  fingers  the  region  of  his  carotids. 
And  if  he  had  known  that  at  that  precise  moment 
the  ex-priest,  and  the  mulatto  they  called  el  Cuchillo, 
and  the  others  of  the  insurgent  leaders,  were  stalk- 
ing him  with  a  view  to  capture  and  execution,  it  is 
probable  that  he  would  have  felt  even  still  more 
disturbed. 

"  We  did  well  in  that  fight  this  morning,"  said 
Kettle  presently,  as  he  drew  his  eyes  away  from  the 


32  ADVENTURES   OF  CAPTAIN   KETTLE. 

light-snaps  of  the  fireflies,  and  shut  them  to  keep 
out  the  sting  of  the  wood-smoke.  "You've  been 
shot  at  before,  sir?  " 

"Never,"  said  Carnforth. 

"You  couldn't  have  been  cooler,  sir,  if  you'd 
been  at  sea  all  your  life,  and  seen  pins  flying  every 
watch.  Do  you  know,  I've  been  thinking  it  over, 
and  I'm  beginning  to  fancy  that  perhaps  our  black 
and  yellow  mongrels  weren't  quite  such  cowards  as 
I  said.  I  know  they  did  scuttle  to  the  bushes  like 
rabbits  so  soon  as  ever  a  gun  was  fired ;  but  then 
their  business  is  to  shoot  these  Spanish  soldiers  and 
not  get  shot  back,  and  so,  perhaps,  they  were  right 
to  keep  to  their  own  way. 

"  Anyway,  we  licked  them,  and  that  means  get- 
ting on  towards  Mrs.  Kettle's  being  a  queen.  But 
that  murdering  the  wounded  afterwards  was  more 
than  I  can  stand,  and  it  has  got  to  be  put  a  stop  to." 

"You  didn't  make  yourself  popular  over  it." 

"  I  am  not  usually  liked  when  I  am  captain,"  said 
Kettle  grimly. 

"  Well,  Skipper,  I  don't,  as  a  rule,  agree  with  your 
methods,  as  you  know,  but  here  I'm  with  you  all 
the  way.  Your  excellent  subjects  are  a  great  deal 
too  barbarous  for  my  taste." 

**  They  are  wholly  brutes,  and  that's  a  fact,"  said 
Captain  Kettle,  "  and  I  expect  a  good  many  of  them 
will  be  hurt  whilst  I'm  teaching  them  manners. 
But  they've  got  to  learn  this  lesson  first  of  all : 
they're  to  treat  their  prisoners  decently,  or  else  let 
them  go,  or  else  shoot  them  clean  and  dead  in  the 
first  instance  whilst  they're  still  on  the  run.  I'm  a 
man   myself,  Mr.  Carnforth,  that  can  do  a  deal  in 


CROWN  AND   GAROTTE.  33 

hot  blood ;  but  afterwards,  when  the  poor  brutes 
are  on  the  ground,  I  want  to  go  round  with  sticking 
plaster,  and  not  a  knife  to  slit  their  throats." 

"  It  will  take  a  tolerable  amount  of  trouble  to 
drum  that  into  this  crew.  A  Spaniard  on  the  war- 
path is  not  merciful;  an  African  is  a  barbarian  ;  but 
make  a  cross  of  the  two  (as  you  get  here)  and  you 
turn  out  the  most  unutterable  savage  on  the  face  of 
the  earth." 

"  They  will  not  be  taught  by  kindness  alone," 
said  Captain  Kettle  suggestively.  "  I've  got  heavy 
hands,  and  I  sha'n't  be  afraid  to  use  them.  It's  a 
job,"  he  added  with  a  sigh,  "  which  will  not  come 
new  to  me.  I've  put  to  sea  with  some  of  the  worst 
toughs  that  ever  wrote  their  crosses  before  a  ship- 
ping master,  and  none  of  them  can  ever  say  they  got 
the  top  side  of  me  yet." 

He  was  about  to  say  more,  but  at  that  moment 
speech  was  taken  from  him.  A  long  rawhide  rope 
suddenly  flicked  out  into  the  air  like  a  slim,  black 
snake  ;  the  noose  at  its  end  for  an  instant  poised 
open-mouthed  above  him ;  and  then  it  descended 
around  his  elbows,  and  was  as  simultaneously 
plucked  taut  by  unseen  hands  behind  the  shelter  of 
the  jungle.  Captain  Kettle  struggled  like  a  wild- 
cat to  release  himself,  but  four  lithe,  bony  men 
threw  themselves  upon  him,  twisted  his  arms  behind 
his  back,  and  made  them  fast  there  with  other 
thongs  of  rawhide. 

Carnforth  did  nothing  to  help.  At  the  first 
alarm  that  burly  gentleman  had  looked  up  and  dis- 
covered a  rifle  muzzle,  not  ten  feet  off,  pointed 
squarely  at  his  breast.  The  voice  of  the  ex-priest 
3 


34  ADVENTURES   OF  CAPTAIN  KETTLE. 

came  from  behind  the  rifle,  and  assured  him  in  mild, 
unctuous  tones  that  the  least  movement  would 
secure  him  a  quick  and  instant  passage  to  one  or 
other  of  the  next  worlds.  And  Martin  Carnforth 
surrendered  without  terms.  When  the  four  men 
had  finished  their  other  business,  they  came  and 
roped  him  up  also. 

The  mulatto  strode  out  from  the  cover  and  flicked 
the  ashes  of  a  cigarette  into  Kettle's  face.  "  El  rey," 
he  said,  "  de  los  Cubanos  must  have  his  power 
limited.  He  has  come  where  he  was  not  wanted,  he 
has  done  what  was  forbidden,  and  shortly  he  will 
taste  the  consequences." 

"  You  ginger-bread  coloured  beast,"  retorted  Cap- 
tain Kettle,  "you  shame  of  your  mother,  I  made  a 
big  mistake  when  I  did  not  shoot  you  in  the  morn- 
ing." 

The  mulatto  pressed  the  lighted  end  of  his  ciga- 
rette against  Kettle's  forehead.  "  I  will  trouble 
you,"  he  said,  "  to  keep  silence  for  the  present. 
At  dawn  you  will  be  put  upon  trial,  and  then  you 
may  speak.  But  till  then  (and  the  sun  will  not  rise 
for  another  three  hours  yet),  if  you  talk,  you  will 
earn  a  painful  burn  for  each  sentence. 

"  You  are  a  man  accustomed  to  having  your  own 
way,  Senor ;  I  am  another ;  and  as  at  present  I  pos- 
sess the  upper  hand,  your  will  has  got  to  bend  to 
mine.  The  process,  I  can  well  imagine,  will  be  dis- 
tasteful to  you.  It  was  distasteful  to  me  when  I 
looked  down  your  revolver  muzzle  over  the  affair  of 
those  prisoners.  But  I  do  not  think  you  will  be 
foolish  enough  to  earn  torture  uselessly." 

Kettle  glared,  but  with  an  effort  held  his  tongue. 


CROWN  AND   GAROTTE.  35 

He  understood  he  was  in  a  very  tight  place.  And 
for  the  present  the  only  thing  remaining  for  him  was 
to  bide  his  time.  He  quite  recognised  that  he  was 
in  dangerous  hands.  The  mulatto  was  a  man  of 
education,  who  had  been  brought  up  in  an  Ameri- 
can college,  and  who  had  learned  in  the  States  to 
hate  his  white  father  and  loathe  his  black  mother 
with  a  ferocity  which  nothing  but  that  atmosphere 
could  foster. 

He  was  a  fellow  living  on  the  borderland  of  the 
two  primitive  colours,  and  his  whole  life  was  soured 
by  the  pigment  in  his  skin.  As  a  white  man  he 
would  have  been  a  genius  ;  as  a  black  he  would  have 
become  a  star ;  but  as  a  mulatto  he  was  merely  a 
suave  and  brilliant  savage,  thirsting  for  vengeance 
against  the  whole  of  the  human  race.  He  had  entered 
this  Cuban  revolution  through  no  taint  of  patriotism, 
but  merely  from  the  lust  for  cruelty.  By  sheer 
daring  and  ability  he  had  raised  himself  from  the 
ranks  to  supreme  command  of  the  revolutionists, 
and  he  was  not  likely  to  let  so  appetising  a  situation 
slip  from  his  fingers  for  even  a  few  short  hours  with, 
out  exacting  a  bitter  retribution  when  the  chance 
was  put  in  his  way. 

Carnforth  lifted  up  his  voice  in  expostulation,  but 
was  quickly  silenced  by  the  promise  of  branding 
from  the  cigarette  end  if  he  did  not  choose  to  hold 
his  tongue.  Quiet  fell  over  the  group.  The  only 
sounds  were  scraps  of  the  "  Swanee  River  "sung  by 
the  wounded  negro  in  his  delirium  from  somewhere 
in  the  distance — 

**  Still  longing  for  the  old  plantation. 
And  for  the  old  folks  at  home," 


36  ADVENTURES   OF  CAPTAIN  KETTLE. 

came  the  words  in  a  thin  quavering  tenor,  and  Carn. 
forth,  with  a  sigh,  thought  how  well  he  could  en. 
dorse  them. 

The  first  glow  of  morning  saw  the  camp  aroused, 
and  half  an  hour  later  the  Court  was  ranged.  The 
self-styled  judges  sat  under  the  whitewashed  piazza 
of  the  ruined  house  ;  the  motley  troops  faced  them 
in  an  irregular  ring  twenty  yards  away ;  and  the 
two  prisoners,  with  an  armed  man  to  guard  each, 
stood  on  the  open  ground  between. 

El  Cuchillo  was  himself  principal  spokesman,  and 
proceedings  were  carried  on  in  Spanish  and  English 
alternately.  The  crime  of  Captain  Kettle  was  set 
forth  in  a  dozen  words.  He  had  stopped  the  right- 
ful execution  of  prisoners,  and  had  let  them  go 
free. 

"  You  had  no  place  to  gaol  them,"  said  Carnforth 
in  defence. 

The  mulatto  pointed  a  thin  yellow  finger  at  the 
sun-baked  ground  in  front  of  the  piazza.  "  We  have 
the  earth,"  he  said.  "  Give  them  to  the  earth,  and 
she  will  keep  them  gaoled  so  fast  that  they  v.'ill  never 
fight  against  us  more.  It  is  a  war  here  to  the  knife 
on  both  sides.  The  Spanish  troops  kill  us  when 
they  catch,  and  we  do  the  like  by  them.  It  is  right 
that  it  should  be  so.  We  do  not  want  quarter  at 
their  hands;  neither  do  we  wish  them  to  remain 
alive  upon  Cuba.  Three  Spanish  soldiers  were  ours 
a  few  hours  ago.  Our  cause  demanded  that  their 
lives  should  have  been  taken  away.  And  yet  they 
were  set  free." 

"  Yes,"  broke  in  Kettle,  "  and,  by  James,  that's  a 


CROWN  AND   GAROTTE.  37 

thing  you  ought  to  sing  small  about.  Here's  you  : 
six  officers  and  a  hundred  and  fifty  men,  all  armed. 
Here's  me :  a  common  low-down,  foul-of-his-luck 
Britisher,  with  a  vinegar  tongue  and  a  thirty-shilling 
pistol.  You  said  the  beggars  should  be  hanged  , 
I  said  they  shouldn't;  and,  by  James,  I  scared  the 
whole  caboodle  of  you  with  just  one-half  an  ugly 
Jook,  and  got  my  own  blessed  way.  Oh,  I  do  say 
you  are  a  holy  crowd." 

Camforth  stamped  in  anger.  It  seemed  to  him 
that  this  truculent  little  sailor  was  deliberately  in- 
viting their  captors  to  murder  the  pair  of  them  out 
of  hand.  He  understood  that  Kettle  was  bitterly 
disappointed  at  having  his  bubble  about  the  king- 
ship so  ruthlessly  pricked,  but  with  this  recklessness 
which  was  snatching  away  their  only  chance  of  es- 
cape, he  could  have  no  sympathy.  He  was  unpre- 
pared, however,  for  his  comrade's  next  remark. 

*'  Don't  think  I'd  any  help  from  Mr.  Carnforth 
here.  He's  a  Member  of  Parliament  in  London, 
and  is  far  too  much  of  a  gentleman  to  concern  him- 
self with  your  fourpenny-ha'penny  matters  here.  He 
warned  me  before  I  began  that  being  king  of  the 
whole  of  your  rotten  island  wasn't  worth  a  dish  of 
beans ;  but  I  wouldn't  believe  him  till  I'd  seen  how 
it  was  for  myself. 

"  I'm  here  now  through  my  own  fault ;  I  ought 
to  have  remembered  that  niggers,  and  yellow-bellies, 
and  white  men  who  have  forgotten  their  colour, 
could  have  no  spark  of  gratitude.  I'll  not  deny, 
too,  that  I  got  to  thinking  about  those  fireflies,  and 
so  wasn't  keeping  a  proper  watch ;  but  here  I  am, 
lashed  up  snug,  and  I  guess  you're  going  to  make 


38  ADVENTURES  OF  CAPTAIN   KETTLE. 

the  most  of  your  chance.  By  James,  though,  if  you 
weren't  a  pack  of  cowards,  you'd  cast  me  adrift,  and 
give  me  my  gun  again  !  " 

"  Speaking  as  a  man  of  peace,"  said  the  ex-priest, 
"  I  fancy  you  are  safest  as  you  are,  amigo" 

"  I'd  be  king  of  this  crowd  again  inside  three 
minutes  if  I  was  loose,"  retorted  Kettle. 

El  Cuchillo  snapped  his  yellow  fingers  impatiently. 
"  We  are  wasting  time,"  he  said.  "  Captain  Kettle 
seems  still  to  dispute  my  supreme  authority.  He 
shall  taste  of  it  within  the  next  dozen  minutes;  and 
if  he  can  see  his  way  to  resisting  it,  and  asserting 
his  own  kingship,  he  has  my  full  permission  to  do  so. 
Here,  you :  go  into  the  ingenio,  and  bring  out  that 
machine." 

A  dozen  ragged  fellows  detached  themselves  from 
the  onlookers,  and  went  through  a  low  stone  door- 
way into  the  ruined  sugar  house.  In  a  couple  of 
minutes  they  reappeared,  dragging  with  noisy 
laughter  a  dusty,  cumbersome  erection,  which  they 
set  down  in  the  open  space  before  the  piazza. 

It  was  made  up  of  a  wooden  platform  on  which 
was  fastened  a  chair  and  an  upright.  On  the  upright 
was  a  hinged  iron  ring  immediately  above  the  chair. 
A  screw  passed  through  the  upright  into  the  ring, 
with  a  long  lever  at  its  outside  end,  on  either  ex- 
tremity of  which  was  a  heavy  sphere  of  iron.  If 
once  that  lever  was  set  on  the  twirl,  it  would  drive 
the  screw's  point  into  whatever  the  iron  ring  con- 
tained with  a  force  that  was  irresistible. 

The  mulatto  introduced  the  machine  with  a  wave 
of  his  yellow  fingers.  '^  El  garotte,''  he  said.  "A 
mediaeval  survival  which  I  did  not  dream  of  finding 


CROWN  AND   GAROTTE.  39 

here.  Of  its  previous  history  I  can  form  no  idea. 
Of  its  future  use  I  can  give  a  simple  account.  It  will 
serve  to  ease  us  of  the  society  of  this  objectionable 
Captain  Kettle." 

"  Great  heavens,  man,"  Carnforth  broke  out,  "  this 
is  murder." 

"  Ah,"  said  el  Cuchillo,  "  I  will  attend  to  your 
case  at  the  same  time.  You  shall  have  the  honour 
of  turning  the  screw  which  gives  your  friend  his  exit. 
In  that  way  we  shall  secure  your  silence  afterwards 
as  to  what  has  occurred." 

"  You  foul  brute,"  said  Carnforth,  with  a  shout, 
*'  do  you  think  I  am  an  assassin  like  yourself?  " 

The  mulatto  took  a  long  draught  at  his  cigarette. 
**  What  a  horrible  country  England  must  be  to  live 
in,  if  all  the  people  there  have  tongues  as  long  as 
you  two.  Sefior,  if  you  do  not  choose  to  accept  my 
suggestion  for  pinning  you  to  silence,  I  can  offer  you 
another.  Refuse  to  take  your  place  at  the  screw, 
and  I  promise  that  you  shall  be  stood  up  against 
the  wall  of  this  ingenio  and  be  shot  inside  the 
minute.     The  choice  stands  open  before  you." 

"  Mr.  Carnforth,"  said  Captain  Kettle,  "  you 
mustn't  be  foolish.  You  must  officiate  over  me 
exactly  as  you  are  asked,  or  otherwise  you'll  get 
shot  uselessly.  Gingerbread  and  his  friends  mean 
business.  And  if  you  still  think  you're  taking  a 
liberty  in  handling  the  screw  (in  spite  of  what  I  say) 
you  may  fine  yourself  a  matter  of  ten  shillings 
weekly,  and  hand  it  across  to  Mrs.  Kettle.  I  make 
no  doubt  she  would  find  that  sum  very  useful." 

"This  is  horrible,"  said  Carnforth. 

"  It  will  be  horrible  for  Mrs.  Kettle  and  my  young- 


40  ADVENTURES   OF   CAPTAIN   KETTLE. 

sters,  sir,  if  you  don't  act  sensibly  and  man  the  lever 
as  Gingerbread  asks.  If  you  get  planted  here  along- 
side of  me,  I  don't  know  any  one  at  all  likely  to 
give  them  a  pension.  It  would  afford  me  a  great 
deal  of  pleasure  just  now,  Mr.  Carnforth,  if  I  knew 
my  family  could  still  keep  to  windward  of  parish 
relief." 

"  Of  course,"  said  Carnforth,  with  a  white  face, 
*'  I  will  see  your  wife  and  children  are  all  right  if  I 
get  clear;  but  it  is  too  ghastly  to  think  of  purchas- 
ing even  my  life  on  these  terms." 

"You  seem  slow  to  make  up  your  mind,  Seflor," 
broke  in  the  mulatto.  "  Allow  me  to  hasten  your 
decision."  He  gave  some  directions,  and  the  men 
who  had  brought  out  the  garotte  took  Captain 
Kettle  and  sat  him  on  the  chair.  They  opened  the 
iron  ring,  which  screeched  noisily  with  its  rusted 
hinge,  and  they  clasped  it,  collar-fashion,  about  his 
neck.  Then  they  led  Carnforth  up  to  the  back 
of  the  upright,  and  cast  off  the  lashing  from  his 
wrists. 

"  Now,  Seflor  Carnforth,"  said  the  yellow  man. 
"I  want  that  person  garotted.  If  you  do  it  for  me, 
I  will  give  you  a  safe-conduct  down  to  any  seaport 
In  Cuba  which  you  may  choose.  If  I  have  to  set  on 
one  of  my  own  men  to  do  the  work,  you  will  not 
have  sight  to  witness  it.  I  will  stick  you  up  against 
that  white  wall,  yonder,  and  have  you  shot,  out  of 
hand.  Now,  Senor,  I  have  the  honour  to  ask  for 
your  decision." 

"  Come,  sir,  don't  hesitate,"  said  Captain  Kettle. 
*'  If  you  don't  handle  the  screw,  remember  some  one 
else  will." 


CROWN   AND    GAROTTE.  4I 

"  That  will  be  a  flimsy  excuse  to  remember  after- 
wards." 

"You  will  be  paying  a  weekly  fine,  and  can  recol- 
lect that  carries  a  full  pardon  with  it." 

"  Pah,"  said  Carnforth,  "  what  is  ten  shillings  a 
week  ?  " 

"Exactly,"  said  Kettle.  "Make  it  twelve,  sir, 
and  that  will  hold  you  clear  of  everything." 

"  What  feeble,  dilatory  people  you  English  are," 
said  el  Cuchillo.  "  I  must  trouble  you  to  make  up 
your  mind  at  once,  Senor  Carnforth." 

"  He  has  made  it  up,"  said  Kettle,  "  and  I  shall  go 
smiling,  because  I  shall  get  my  clearance  at  the 
hands  of  a  decent  man.  I'd  have  taken  it  as  a  dis- 
grace to  be  shoved  out  of  this  world  by  a  yellow 
beast  like  you,  you  shame  of  your  mother." 

The  mulatto  blazed  out  with  fury.  "  By  heaven," 
he  cried,  "  I've  a  mind  to  take  you  out  of  that 
garotte  even  now  and  have  you  burnt." 

"  And  we  should  lose  a  pleasant  little  comedy," 
said  the  ex-priest.  "  No,  amigo  ;  let  us  see  the  pair 
of  them  perform  together." 

"  Go  on,"  said  the  mulatto  to  Carnforth. 

"Yes,"  said  Kettle  in  a  lower  voice.  "  For  God's 
sake  go  on  and  get  it  over.  It  isn't  very  pleasant 
work  for  me,  this  waiting.  And  you  will  make  it 
twelve  shillings  a  week,  sir  ?  " 

"  X  will  give  your  wife  a  thousand  a  year,  my  poor 
'>;'low.  I  will  give  her  five  thousand.  No,  I  am 
murdering  her  husband,  and  I  will  give  her  all  I 
have,  and  go  away  to  start  life  afresh  elsewhere.  I 
shall  never  dare  to  show  my  face  again  in  England 
or  carry  my  own  name."     He  gripped  one  of  the 


42  ADVENTURES   OF   CAPTAIN   KETTLE. 

iron  spheres  and  threw  his  weight  upon  the  lever. 
The  bar  buckled  and  sprang  under  his  effort,  but  the 
screw  did  not  budge. 

"  Quick,  man,  quick,"  said  Kettle  in  a  low,  fierce 
voice.  "  This  is  cruel.  If  you  don't  get  me  finished 
directly,  I  shall  go  white  or  something,  and  those 
brutes  will  think  I'm  afraid." 

Carnforth  wrenched  at  the  lever  with  a  tremen- 
dous effort.  One  arm  of  the  bar  bent  slowly  into  a 
semicircle,  but  the  lethal  screw  remained  fast  in 
its  socket.  It  was  glued  there  with  the  rust  of 
years. 

Carnforth  flung  away  from  the  machine.  **  I 
have  done  my  best,"  he  said  sullenly  to  the  men 
on  the  piazza,  "  and  I  can  do  no  more.  You  have 
the  satisfaction  of  knowing  that  you  have  made  me 
a  murderer  in  intent,  if  not  in  actual  fact ;  and  now, 
if  you  choose,  you  can  stick  me  up  against  that  wall 
and  have  me  shot.  I'm  sure  I  don't  care.  I'm  sick 
of  it  all  here." 

"  You  shall  have  fair  treatment,"  said  el  Cuchillo, 
"  and  neither  more  or  less.  You  have  tried  to  obey 
my  orders,  and  Captain  Kettle  is  at  present  alive 
because  of  the  garotte's  deficiency,  and  not  by  your 
intention."  He  gave  a  command,  and  the  men  re- 
leased the  iron  collar  from  Kettle's  neck.  "  I  will 
have  the  machine  repaired  by  my  armourer,"  he  said, 
"  and  in  the  meanwhile  you  may  await  my  pleasure 
out  of  the  sunshine." 

He  gave  another  order,  and  the  men  laid  hands 
upon  their  shoulders  and  led  them  away,  and  thrust 
them  into  a  small  arched  room  of  whitened  stone, 
under  the  boiler-house  of  the  ingenio.     The  window 


CROWN  AND   GAROTTE.  43 

was  a  mere  arrow-slit :  the  door  was  a  ponderous 
thing  of  Spanish  oak,  barred  with  iron  bolts  which 
ran  into  the  stonework ;  the  place  was  absolutely 
unbreakable. 

The  silence  had  lasted  a  dozen  hours,  although  it 
was  plain  that  each  of  the  prisoners  was  busily  think- 
ing.    At  last  Kettle  spoke. 

"  If  I  could  only  get  a  rhyme  to  '  brow,' "  he 
said,  "  I  believe  I  could  manage  the  rest." 

"  What  ?  "  asked  Carnforth. 

**  I  want  a  word  to  rhyme  with  '  brow,*  sir,  if  you 
can  help  me." 

"  What  in  the  world  are  you  up  to  now  ?  " 

•*  I've  been  filling  up  time,  sir,  whilst  we've  been 
here  by  hammering  out  a  bit  of  poetry  about  those 
fireflies.  I  got  the  idea  of  it  last  night,  when  we 
saw  them  flashing  in  and  out  against  the  black  of 
the  forest." 

"  You  don't  owe  them  much  gratitude  that  I  can 
see.  Skipper.  According  to  what  you  said,  if  you 
hadn't  been  looking  at  them,  you'd  have  been  more 
on  the  watch,  and  wouldn't  have  got  caught." 

"  Perfectly  right,  sir.  And  so  this  poem  should  be 
all  the  more  valuable  when  it's  put  together.  I'm 
running  it  to  the  tune  of  '  Greenland's  icy  mountains,* 
my  favourite  air,  Mr.  Carnforth.  I'm  trying  to  work 
a  parallel  between  those  fireflies  switching  their 
lights  in  and  out,  and  a  soul,  sir.  Do  you  catch  the 
idea?" 

**  I  can't  say  I  do  quite." 

Captain  Kettle  rubbed  thoughtfully  at  his  beard. 
**  Well,  I'm  a  trifle  misty  about  it  myself,"  he  ad- 


44  ADVENTURES   OF   CAPTAIN   KETTLE. 

mitted ;  "  but  it  will  make  none  the  worse  poetry 
for  being  a  bit  that  way,  if  I  can  get  the  rhymes  all 
right." 

"  '  Plough  '  might  suit  you,"  Carnforth  suggested. 

"That's  just  the  word  I  want,  sir.  'The  fields  of 
heaven  to  plough.'  That  would  be  the  very  occupa- 
tion the  soul  of  the  man  I'm  thinking  about  would 
delight  in  ;  something  restful  and  in  the  agricultural 
line.  I  wanted  to  give  him  a  good  time  up  there. 
He  was  due  for  it,"  he  added  thoughtfully,  and  then 
he  closed  his  eyes  and  fell  to  making  further  poetry. 

Martin  Carnforth  knew  the  little  ruffian's  taste 
for  this  form  of  exercise,  but  it  seemed  to  him  jar- 
ringly out  of  place  just  then.  "  I  am  in  no  mood 
for  verse  now,"  he  commented  with  a  frown. 

"  I  am,"  said  Kettle,  and  tapped  out  the  metre  of 
a  new  line  with  a  finger-tip  upon  his  knee.  "It 
always  takes  a  set-to  with  the  hands,  or  a  gale  of 
wind,  or  a  tight  corner  of  some  kind,  to  work  me 
up  to  poetry  at  all.  And  the  worse  the  fix  has  been, 
the  better  I  can  rhyme.  I  find  it  very  restful  and 
pleasant,  sir,  to  send  my  thoughts  over  a  bit  of  a 
sonnet  after  times  like  these." 

"Then  you  ought  to  turn  out  a  masterpiece  now," 
said  Carnforth,  "and  enjoy  the  making  of  it." 

Kettle  took  him  seriously.  "  I  quite  agree  with 
you  there,  sir,"  he  said,  and  puckered  his  forehead 
and  went  on  with  his  work. 

Carnforth  did  not  say  any  more,  but  turned  again 
to  brooding.  Every  time  he  looked  at  the  matter, 
the  more  he  cursed  himself  for  leaving  his  snug  pin- 
nacle in  England.  The  utmost  boon  he  could  have 
gained  in  Captain   Kettle's  society  was  not  L::  b^ 


CROWN  AND   GAROTTE.  45 

caught.  Dangers,  hardships,  and  exposures  he  was 
discovering  are  much  pleasanter  to  hear  of  from  a 
distance,  or  to  read  about  in  a  well-stuffed  chair 
by  a  warm  fireside.  The  actual  items  themselves 
had  turned  out  terribly  squalid  when  viewed  at  first 
hand. 

At  last  he  broke  out  again.  "  Look  here,  Skipper," 
he  said,  "  I'm  fond  enough  of  life,  but  I  don't  think 
I  want  to  earn  it  by  playing  executioner.  I'd  prefer 
to  let  this  rebel  fellow  parade  me  and  bring  out  his 
platoon." 

Kettle  woke  up  from  his  work.  "  I'm  not  sweet 
on  wearing  the  iron  collar  again,  and  that's  a  fact. 
It's  horrible  work  waiting  to  have  your  backbone 
snapped  without  being  able  to  raise  a  finger  to  inter- 
fere. I'm  not  a  coward,  Mr.  Carnforth,  but  I  tell 
you  it  took  all  the  nerve  I'd  got  to  sit  quiet  in  that 
chair  without  squirming  whilst  you  were  getting 
ready  the  ceremonial. 

"  It's  no  new  thing  for  me  to  expect  being  killed 
before  the  hour  was  through.  I've  had  trouble  of 
all  kinds  with  all  sorts  of  crews,  but  I've  always  had 
my  hands  free  and  been  able  to  use  them,  and  I  will 
say  I've  'most  always  had  a  gun  of  some  sort  to  help 
me.  I  might  even  go  so  far  as  to  tell  you,  sir  (and 
you  may  kick  me  for  saying  it  if  you  like),  I've  felt 
a  kind  of  joy  regularly  glow  inside  me  during  some 
of  those  kind  of  scuffles.  Yes,  sir,  that's  the  kind 
of  animal  I  am  in  hot  blood  I  think  no  more  of 
being  killed  than  a  terrier  dog  does," 

"  If  there  was  only  a  chance  of  being  knocked  on 
the  head  in  hot  blood,"  said  Carnforth,  "  I'd  fight 
like  a  cornered  thief  till  I  got  my  quietus." 


46  ADVENTURES   OF  CAPTAIN  KETTLE. 

**  And  Mrs.  Kettle  would  lose  her  twelve  shillings 

a  week  if By  James,  sir,  here  they  come  for 

us." 

He  leapt  up  from  the  bench  on  which  he  had  sat, 
and  whirled  it  above  his  head.  With  a  crash  he 
brought  it  down  against  the  whitened  wall  of  the 
cell,  and  the  bench  split  down  its  length  into  two 
staves.  He  gave  one  to  Carn forth,  and  hefted  the 
other  himself  like  a  connoisseur. 

*'  Now,  sir,  you  on  one  side  of  the  door,  and  me 
on  the  other.  They  can't  reach  us  from  the  out- 
side there.  And  if  they  want  us  out  of  here,  we've 
got  to  be  fetched." 

Carnforth  took  up  his  stand,  and  shifted  his  fingers 
knowingly  along  his  weapon.  He  was  a  big  man 
and  a  powerful  one,  and  the  hunger  for  fighting  lit 
in  his  eye. 

"  Horatius  Cockles  and  the  other  Johnnie  holding 
the  bridge,"  quoth  he.  "  We  can  bag  the  first  two, 
and  the  others  will  fall  over  them  if  they  try  a  rush. 
What  fools  they  were  to  untie  our  wrists  and  shins ! 
But  our  fun  won't  last  long.  As  soon  as  they  find 
we  are  awkward,  they  will  go  around  to  the  window- 
slit,  and  shoot  us  down  from  there." 

"  We  aren't  shot  yet,"  said  Kettle  grimly,  "  and 
I'm  wanting  to  do  a  lot  of  damage  before  they  get 
me.     Look  out !  " 

The  bolts  grated  back  in  the  rusty  staples,  and 
the  heavy  door  screamed  outwards  on  its  hinges.  A 
negro  came  in,  whistling  merrily.  The  two  halves 
of  the  bench  flew  down  upon  his  head  from  either 
side  with  a  simultaneous  crash. 

A  white  man's  skull  would  have  crunched  like  an 


CROWN  AND   GAROTTE.  47 

eggshell  under  that  impact,  but  the  African  cranium 
is  stout.  The  fellow  toppled  to  the  ground  under 
the  sheer  tonnage  of  the  blows,  and  he  lay  there 
with  the  whistle  half-frozen  on  his  lips,  and  such  a 
ludicrous  look  of  surprise  growing  over  his  features 
that  Carnforth  burst  into  an  involuntary  laugh. 
Kettle,  however,  was  more  business-like.  The  negro 
had  a  machete  dangling  from  his  hip,  and  the  little 
sailor  darted  out  and  snatched  it  from  its  sheath. 
He  jumped  back  again  to  cover  with  slim  activity, 
and  a  couple  of  pistol  bullets  which  followed  him 
made  harmless  grey  splashes  on  the  opposite  wall. 
Then  there  was  a  pause  in  the  proceedings,  and 
Carnforth  felt  his  heart  thumping  noisily  against 
his  watch  as  he  waited. 

Presently  a  brisk  footstep  made  itself  heard  on 
the  flagging  outside,  and  the  voice  of  the  mulatto 
leader  spoke  through  the  doorway. 

"If  you  come  out  now,  one  of  you  shall  be  garot- 
ted,  and  the  other  shall  go  free.  If  I  have  more 
trouble  to  fetch  you,  you  shall  both  be  roasted  to 
death  over  slow  fires." 

"  If— if— if  !  "  retorted  Kettle.  "  If  your  mother 
had  stuck  to  her  laundry  work  and  married  a  nigger, 
she'd  have  kept  a  very  great  rascal  out  of  the  world. 
If  I'd  the  sense  of  a  sheep  I'd  come  to  you  at  once, 
and  my  poor  wife  would  have  twelve  bob  a  week 
for  life.  If  you  want  to  talk,  you  frightened  lump 
of  gingerbread,  come  in  here  and  do  it,  and  don't 
squall  out  there  like  a  cat  on  a  garden  wall." 

The  suave  voice  of  the  ex-priest  made  a  com- 
ment. "  Saints  deliver  us  from  these  Englishmen's 
tongues.     Truly  they  are  not  fit  to  live ;  but  why 


48  ADVENTURES  OF  CAPTAIN  KETTLE. 

should  we  send  our  terriers  into  the  rat  pit  ?  A  little 
careful  shooting  through  the  window  yonder  will 
soon  limit  their  capers,  and  if  the  shooting  is  care- 
fully done,  neither  will  be  any  the  worse  as  a  roast." 

El  Cuchillo  answered  him  savagely.  "  Then  do 
you  see  to  it.  The  big  man  you  may  shoot  as  you 
please,  but  if  you  kill  the  sailor,  look  to  yourself. 
That  man  is  in  my  debt,  and  I  want  him  in  my 
hands  alive,  so  that  I  may  pay  it." 

*^  Amigo"  said  the  unfrocked  priest,  "  you  may 
trust  to  my  shooting.  I  will  pink  him  most  scien- 
tifically in  one  leg  and  the  right  arm,  and  I  will  guar- 
antee that  you  shall  get  him  in  perfect  condition  to 
have  your  satisfaction  on." 

"  Do  so,"  said  the  mulatto,  and  the  other  marched 
briskly  away  on  his  rope-soled  sandals.  But  in  the 
meantime  Kettle's  active  brain  had  formed  a  plan, 
and  in  dumb  show  he  had  telegraphed  it  across  to 
Carnforth  at  the  opposite  flank  of  the  doorway. 

Of  a  sudden  the  pair  of  them  rushed  out  simul- 
taneously. Kettle  handed  the  machete  to  his 
companion,  and  sprang  upon  the  yellow  man  with 
greedy  fingers.  His  feet  he  kicked  away  from  be- 
neath him,  and  at  the  same  instant  grappled  him 
by  the  throat.  It  was  a  trick  he  had  many  a  time 
before  played  upon  mutinous  seamen,  and  he  had 
dragged  the  mulatto  back  into  the  cell  almost  be- 
fore the  man  had  time  to  struggle.  Carnforth 
followed  closely  upon  their  heels,  leaving  signatures 
behind  him  written  redly  with  the  machete. 

Captain  Kettle  bumped  the  mulatto's  head 
against  the  wall  as  a  way  of  quietening  him,  and 
keeping  his  fingers  away  from  dangerous  weapons. 


CROWN  AND   GAROTTE.  49 

and  then  threw  him  on  to  the  floor.  He  extracted 
a  revolver  and  a  knife  from  the  man's  belt,  and, 
looked  up  to  see  the  face  of  the  ex-priest  staring 
at  him  from  the  window.  Then  he  sat  himself  on 
the  chest  of  his  prisoner,  and  prepared  to  treat  for 
terms. 

A  shot  rang  out  across  the  bivouac  outside,  and 
then  another.  The  man  at  the  window-slit  turned 
away  his  face.  There  was  a  minute's  pause,  and 
then  a  dropping  fire  began,  the  sound  of  it  coming 
from  two  distinct  quarters. 

The  ex-priest's  head  went  out  of  sight.  It  was 
the  last  they  ever  saw  of  him.  Some  one  outside 
the  doorway  shouted  "  Los  Espanoles  !  "  and  there 
was  the  scuffle  of  bare  feet  running  away  and  fad- 
ing into  the  distance.  And,  meanwhile,  outside  the 
windows  the  crackle  of  rifles  grew  more  noisy,  and 
cries  rose  up  of  men  in  pain.  The  light  in  the 
vaulted  room  grew  faintly  blue,  and  the  air  was 
soured  with  powder  smoke. 

"  By  James,"  said  Kettle,  "  the  Spanish  regular 
troops  have  raided  the  camp,  and  the  whole  lot  of 
them  are  fighting  like  a  parcel  of  cats.  Hark  to  the 
racket.     Here's  a  slice  of  luck." 

"  I  don't  see  it,"  said  Carnforth.  "  If  we're  out 
of  the  fire,  we're  into  the  frying-pan.  Sinking  that 
Spanish  warship  was  an  act  of  piracy,  and  we  shall 
be  strung  up  if  the  Dons  catch  us,  without  the  pre- 
lude of  a  trial.  Listen  !  There's  a  Maxim  come 
into  action.  Listen !  I  wonder  which  way  the 
fight's  going.  They're  making  row  enough  over 
it.  I'm  going  to  get  to  the  window  and  have  a 
look." 
4 


50  ADVENTURES  OF  CAP'IAIN   KETTLE. 

"  It's  tempting,"  said  the  little  sailor  wistfully, 
"but  I  think,  sir,  you'd  better  not.  If  you're  seen 
we  shall  be  gastados,  as  they  say,  anyway.  Where- 
as, if  the  rebels  are  licked,  the  Dons  may  march 
off  again  without  knowing  we  are  here.  It's  a 
chance.  By  James,  though,  I'd  like  to  have  a  look. 
Hark  to  that.  They're  at  hand-grips  now.  Hear 
'em  swear.     And  hear  'em  scream. 

*'  Some  of  them  are  beginning  to  run.  Hark  to 
that  crashing  as  they're  making  their  way  through 
the  cane." 

"And  hark  to  those  shouts.  It's  like  a  lot  of 
cockneys  at  a  foxhunt." 

"  These  Dagos  always  yell  blue  murder  when 
they're  in  a  fight,"  said  Kettle  contemptuously. 

"  The  Maxim's  stopped,"  said  Carnforth,  with  a 
frown. 

They  listened  on  for  awhile  with  straining  ears, 
and  then :  "  Perhaps  that  means  the  rebels  have 
rushed  it." 

"  They  may  have  run.  But  the  Dons  ought  to 
be  browning  the  cover  if  they've  cleared  the  camp. 
The  fools !  A  Maxim  would  shoot  through  half  a 
mile  of  that  cane-jungle." 

"  Short  of  ammunition,"  said  Kettle,  "  or  perhaps 
it's  jammed."  A  bugle  shrilled  out  through  the 
hot  air,  and  its  noise  came  to  them  there  in  the  hot, 
dark  room.  "  That  means  cease  fire,  and  the  Span- 
iards have  won.  Our  mongrels  had  no  bugles. 
Well,  it's  been  a  quick  thing.  I  wond«r  what 
next ! " 

There  was  a  dull  murmur  of  many  voices.  Then 
orders  were  shouted,  and  noise  came  as  of  moving 


CROWN  AND   GAROTTE.  5 1 

men,   and   a  few  more  scattered  shots   rang   out, 
most  of  them  answered  by  cries  or  groans. 

"  Hullo  ?  "  said  Kettle. 
'     A  weak  voice  from   beneath  him   made  explana- 
tion.    "  They  are  shooting  their  prisoners,  Senores-— 
the  men  who  were  my  comrades.    It  is  the  custom — • 
the  custom  of  Cuba." 

"  So  you  have  concluded  to  come  to  life  again, 
have  you  ?  "  asked  the  little  sailor.  "  I  thought  I'd 
bumped  you  harder.  What  do  you  expect  to  be 
done  with,  eh  ?  " 

"  I  am  in  your  hands,"  said  the  mulatto  sullenly, 

"  That's  no  lie,"  said  Kettle,  "  and  I've  a  perfect 
right  to  kill  you  if  I  wish.  But  I  don't  choose  to 
dirty  my  hands  further.  You've  only  acted  accord- 
ing to  your  nature.  And — when  it  came  to  me 
being  able  to  move,  I've  beaten  you  every  time. 
But  now  we'll  have  silence,  please,  for  all  hands. 
If  those  Spaniards  are  going  to  search  this  old 
sugar  house,  they'll  do  it,  and  up  on  a  string  we  go 
the  three  of  us ;  but  there's  no  need  to  entice  them 
here  by  chattering." 

Their  voices  stopped,  and  the  noises  from  with- 
out buzzed  on.  Of  all  the  trials  he  had  gone 
through,  Carnforth  felt  that  waiting  to  be  the  most 
intolerable  of  all.  The  Spanish  soldiery  were  look- 
ing to  their  wounds  and  hunting  through  the 
bivouac.  Some  (to  judge  from  their  talk)  had 
gathered  round  the  rusted  garotte  and  were  exam- 
ining it  with  interest.  And  a  few  strolled  up  to  the 
ruined  ingenio,  and  smoked  their  cigarettes  under  its 
piazza.  Any  moment  the  room  beneath  the  boiler 
house  might  be  peeped  upon. 


52  ADVENTURES  OF  CAPTAIN  KETTLE. 

The  sun  beat  down  upon  the  stonework  and  the 
heat  grew.  The  voices  gradually  drew  away,  till 
only  the  hum  of  the  insects  remained.  And  so  an 
hour  passed. 

Another  hour  came  and  went  without  disturbance, 
and  still  another;  and  then  there  carne  the  sound 
of  a  quavering  tenor  voice  singing  a  scrap  from  the 
"  Swanee  River"  from  close  outside  the  walls: 

"  Oh,  take  me  to  my  kind  ole  mudder  I 
Dere  let  me  live  and  die.*' 

"  That  Yankee  nigger,"  said  Kettle,  in  a  whisper. 
"  He  was  wounded  and  delirious  before  we  came, 
and  he's  been  hidden  amongst  the  cane.  They 
can't  have  seen  him  before  ;  but,  poor  devil,  they'll 
shoot  him  now." 

But  no  quietening  rifle-shot  rang  out,  and  wonder 
grew  on  the  faces  of  all  three.  They  waited  on 
with  straining  ears,  and  Carnforth  raised  his  eye- 
brows in  an  unspoken  question.  Kettle  nodded, 
and  the  big  man  rose  gingerly  to  his  feet,  and 
peeped  from  the  corner  of  the  window-slit.  He 
turned  round  with  rather  a  harsh  laugh.  "  The 
place  is  empty,"  he  said.  "  I  believe  they've  been 
gone  these  three  hours." 

Captain  Kettle  leapt  to  his  feet  and  made  for  the 
door.  "  Quick,"  he  cried,  "  or  we  shall  have  the 
rebels  back  again,  and  I'll  own  that  I  don't  want  to 
fight  the  whole  lot  of  them  again  just  now.  We'll 
leave  Gingerbread  in  here  till  his  friends  come  to 
fetch  him  ;  and  you  and  I,  sir,  will  slip  down  to  the 
beach,  and  get  off  in  one  of  the  old  Sultan  s  quarter- 
boats." 


CROWN  AND   GAROTTE.  53 

They  passed  outside  the  door,  and  closed  and 
bolted' it  after  them. 

"  By  the  way,"  said  Captain  Kettle,  "  you 
couldn't  happen  to  think  of  a  rhyme  to  '  gleam,* 
could  you  ?" 

"  No,"  said  Carnforth. 

"  Well,  I'll  hammer  it  out  on  the  road  down,  and 
then  I'll  have  finished  that  sonnet,  sir.  But  never 
mind  poetry  just  now.  I'll  say  the  piece  to  you 
when  we've  got  to  sea.  For  the  present,  Mr.  Carn- 
forth, we  must  just  pick  up  our  feet  and  run," 

And  so  they  went  off  to  the  quarter-boat,  and  ten 
minutes  later  they  were  running  her  down  the 
beach  and  into  the  sea. 


CHAPTER  III. 

THE  WAR-STEAMER   OF   DONNA  CLOTILDB. 

I  THINK  it  may  be  taken  as  one  of  the  most  remark° 
able  attributes  of  Captain  Owen  Kettle  that,  what- 
ever circumstances  might  betide,  he  was  always  neat 
and  trim  in  his  personal  appearance.  Even  in  most 
affluent  hours  he  had  never  been  able  to  afford  an 
expensive  tailor ;  indeed,  it  is  much  to  be  doubted  if, 
during  all  his  life,  he  ever  bought  a  scrap  of  raiment 
any  where  except  at  a  ready-made  establishment  ; 
but,  in  spite  of  this,  his  clothes  were  always  conspicu- 
ously well-fitting,  carried  the  creases  in  exactly  the 
right  place,  and  seemed  to  the  critical  onlooker  to  be 
capable  of  improvement  in  no  one  point  whatso- 
ever. He  looked  spruce  even  in  oilskins  and  thigh 
boots. 

Of  course,  being  a  sailor,  he  was  handy  with  his 
needle.  I  have  seen  him  take  a  white  drill  jacket, 
torn  to  ribands  in  a  rough  and  tumble  with  mutinous 
members  of  his  crew,  and  fine-draw  the  rents  so  won- 
derfully that  all  traces  of  the  disaster  were  completely 
lost.  I  believe,  too,  he  was  capable  of  taking  a  roll 
of  material  and  cutting  it  out  with  his  knife  upon 
the  deck  planks,  and  fabricating  garments  ab  initio  ; 
and  though  I  never  actually  saw  him  do  this  with  my 
own  eyes,  I  did  hear  that  the  clothes  he  appeared  in 

54 


THE   WAR-STEAMER   OF   DONNA   CLOTILDE.     55 

at  Valparaiso  were  so  made,  and  I  marvelled  at  their 
neatness. 

It  was  just  after  his  disastrous  adventure  in  Cuba; 
he  trod  the  streets  in  a  state  of  utter  pecuniary  desti- 
tution ;  his  cheeks  were  sunk  and  his  eyes  were  hag- 
gard ;  but  the  red  torpedo  beard  was  as  trim  as  ever  ; 
his  cap  was  spic  and  span  ;  the  white  drill  clothes  with 
their  brass  buttons  were  the  usual  miracle  of  per- 
fection ;  and  even  his  tiny  canvas  shoes  had  not  as 
much  as  a  smudge  upon  their  pipe-clay.  Indeed,  in 
the  first  instance  I  think  it  must  have  been  this 
spruceness,  and  nothing  else,  which  made  him  find 
favour  in  the  eyes  of  so  fastidious  a  person  as  Clo- 
tilde  La  Touche. 

But  be  this  as  it  may,  it  is  a  fact  that  Donna  Clotilde 
just  saw  the  man  from  her  carriage  as  he  walked 
along  the  Paseo  de  Colon,  promptly  asked  his  name, 
and,  getting  no  immediate  reply,  despatched  one  of 
her  admirers  there  and  then  to  make  his  acquaintance, 
The  envoy  was  instructed  to  find  out  who  he  was, 
and  contrive  that  Donna  Clotilde  should  meet  the 
little  sailor  at  dinner  in  the  Caf6  of  the  Lion  d'Or 
that  very  evening. 

The  dinner  was  given  in  the  patio  of  the  caf6 
where  palm-fronds  filtered  the  moonbeams,  and  fire- 
flies competed  with  the  electric  lights  ;  and  at  a  mod- 
erate computation  the  cost  of  the  viands  would  have 
kept  Captain  Kettle  supplied  with  his  average  rations 
for  ten  months  or  a  year.  He  was  quite  aware  of  this 
and  appreciated  the  entertainment  none  the  worse 
in  consequence.  Even  the  champagne,  highly  sweet- 
ened to  suit  the  South  American  palate,  came  most 
pleasantly  to  him.     He  liked  champagne  according 


$6  ADVENTURES   OF   CAPTAIN  KETTLE. 

to  its  lack  of  dryness,  and  this  was  the  sweetest  wine 
that  had  ever  passed  his  lips. 

The  conversation  during  that  curious  meal  ran  in 
phases.  With  the  /lors  d'ceuvres  came  a  course  of 
ordinary  civilities ;  then  for  a  space  there  rolled  out 
an  autobiographical  account  of  some  of  Kettle's  ex- 
ploits, skilfully  and  painlessly  extracted  by  Donna 
Clotilde's  naive  questions  ;  and  then,  with  the  cognac 
and  cigarettes,  a  spasm  of  politics  shook  the  diners 
like  an  ague. 

Of  a  sudden  one  of  the  men  recollected  himself, 
looked  to  this  side  and  that  with  a  scared  face,  and 
rapped  the  table  with  his  knuckles. 

"  Ladies,"  he  said  imploringly,  "  and  Seflores,  the 
heat  is  great.     It  may  be  dangerous." 

**  Pah  ! "  said  Donna  Clotilde,  "  we  are  talking  in 
English." 

"  Which  other  people  besides  ourselves  under- 
stand, even  in  Valparaiso." 

"  Let  them  listen,"  said  Captain  Kettle.  "  I  hold 
the  same  opinions  on  politics  as  Miss  La  Touche 
here,  since  she  has  explained  to  me  how  things 
really  are,  and  I  don't  care  who  knows  that  I  think 
the  present  Government,  and  the  whole  system, 
rotten.  I  am  not  in  the  habit  of  putting  my  opin- 
ions in  words,  Mr.  Silva,  and  being  frightened  of 
people  hearing  them." 

"You,"  said  the  cautious  man  drily,  "  have  little 
to  lose  here,  Captain.  Donna  Clotilde  has  much. 
I  should  be  very  sorry  to  read  in  my  morning  paper 
that  she  had  died  from  apoplexy — the  arsenical 
variety — during  the  course  of  the  preceding  night.** 

"  Pooh,"  said  Kettle,  "  they  could  never  do  that." 


THE  WAR-STEAMER  OF  DONNA   CLOTILDE.     5/ 

"  As  a  resident  in  Chili,"  returned  Silva,  "  let  me 
venture  to  disagree  with  you,  Captain.  It  is  a  dis- 
ease to  which  the  opponents  of  President  Quijarra 
are  singularly  addicted  whenever  they  show  any 
marked  political  activity.  The  palm  trees  in  this 
patio  have  a  reputation,  too,  for  being  phenomenally 
long-eared.  So,  if  it  pleases  you  all,  suppose  we  go 
out  on  the  roof?  The  moon  will  afford  us  a  fine 
prospect — and — the  air  up  there  is  reputed  healthy." 

He  picked  up  Donna  Clotilde's  fan  and  mantilla. 
The  other  two  ladies  rose  to  their  feet ;  Donna  Clo- 
tilde,  with  a  slight  frown  of  reluctance,  did  the 
same ;  and  they  all  moved  off  towards  the  stairway, 
Silva  laid  detaining  fingers  upon  Captain  Kettle's 
arm. 

"  Captain,"  he  said,  "  if  I  may  give  you  a  friendly 
hint,  slip  away  now  and  go  to  your  quarters." 

"  I  fancy,  sir,"  said  Captain  Kettle,  '*  that  Miss 
La  Touche  has  employment  to  offer  me." 

"If  she  has,"  retorted  Silva,  "which  I  doubt,  it 
will  not  be  employment  you  will  care  about." 

"  I  am  what  they  call  here  '  on  the  beach,*  "  said 
Kettle,  "  and  I  cannot  afford  to  miss  chances.  I 
am  a  married  man,  Mr.  Silva,  with  children  to  think 
about." 

"  Ah  !  "  the  Chillian  murmured  thoughtfully.  *'  I 
■wonder  if  she  knows  he's  married  ?  Well,  Captain, 
if  you  will  go  up,  come  along,  and  I'm  sure  I  wish 
you  luck." 

The  flat  roof  of  the  Caf^  of  the  Lion  d'Or  is  set 
out  as  a  garden,  with  orange  trees  growing  against 
the  parapets,  and  elephants'  ears  and  other  tropical 
foliage  plants  stood  here  and  there  in  round  green 


58  ADVENTURES  OF  CAPTAIN  KETTLE. 

tubs.  Around  it  are  the  other  roofs  of  the  city, 
which,  with  the  streets  between,  look  like  some 
white  rocky  plain  cut  up  by  steep  caflons.  A  glow 
comes  from  these  depths  below,  and  with  it  the 
blurred  hum  of  people.  But  nothing  articulate  gets 
up  to  the  Lion  d'Or,  and  in  the  very  mistiness  of 
the  noise  there  is  something  indescribably  fascinat- 
ing. 

Moreover,  it  is  a  place  where  the  fireflies  of  Val- 
paraiso most  do  congregate.  Saving  for  the  lamps 
of  heaven,  they  have  no  other  lighting  on  that  roof. 
The  owners  (who  are  Israelites)  pride  themselves 
on  this  :  it  gives  the  garden  an  air  of  mystery ;  it 
has  made  it  the  natural  birthplace  of  plots  above 
numbering  ;  and  it  has  brought  them  profits  almost 
beyond  belief.  Your  true  plotter,  when  his  ecstasy 
comes  upon  him,  is  not  the  man  to  be  niggardly  with 
the  purse.  He  is  alive  and  glowing  then ;  he  may 
very  possibly  be  dead  to-morrow ;  and  in  the  mean- 
while money  is  useless,  and  the  things  money  can 
buy — and  the  very  best  of  their  sort — are  most  de- 
sirable. 

One  more  whispered  hint  did  Mr.  Silva  give  to 
Captain  Kettle  as  they  made  their  way  together  up 
the  white  stone  steps, 

"  Do  you  know  who  and  what  our  hostess  is  ?  " 
he  asked. 

'*  A  very  nice  young  lady,"  replied  the  mariner 
promptly,  "  with  a  fine  taste  in  suppers." 

"  She  is  all  that,"  said  Silva  ;  "  but  she  also  hap- 
pens to  be  the  richest  woman  in  Chili.  Her  father 
owned  mines  innumerable,  and  when  he  came  by 
his  end  in  our  last  revolution,  he  left  every  dollar  he 


THE   WAR-STEAMER   OF   DONNA   CLOTILDE.     59 

had  at  Donna  Clotilde's  entire  disposal.  By  some 
unfortunate  oversight,  personal  fear  has  been  left 
out  of  her  composition,  and  she  seems  anxious  to 
add  it  to  the  list  of  her  acquirements." 

Captain  Kettle  puckered   his  brows.      "  I   don't 
seem  to  understand  you,"  he  said. 

"I  say  this,"  Silva  murmured,  "because  there 
seems  no  other  way  to  explain  the  keenness  with 
which  she  hunts  after  personal  danger.  At  present 
she  is  intriguing  against  President  Quijarra's  Gov- 
ernment. Well,  we  all  know  that  Quijarra  is  a  bri- 
gand, just  as  his  predecessor  was  before  him.  The 
man  who  succeeds  him  in  the  Presidency  of  Chili 
will  be  a  brigand  also.  It  is  the  custom  of  my  coun- 
try. But  interfering  with  brigandage  is  a  ticklish 
operation,  and  Quijarra  is  always  scrupulous  to 
wring  the  necks  of  anyone  whom  he  thinks  at  all 
likely  to  interfere  with  his  peculiar  methods." 

"  I  should  say  that  from  his  point  of  view,"  said 
Kettle,  "  he  was  acting  quite  rightly,  sir." 

"  I  thought  you'd  look  at  it  sensibly,"  said  Silva. 
"  Well,  Captain,  here  we  are  at  the  top  of  the  stair. 
Don't  you  think  you  had  better  change  your  mind, 
and  slip  away  now,  and  go  back  to  your  quarters?" 
"  Why,  no,  sir,"  said  Captain  Kettle.  "  From 
what  you  tell  me,  it  seems  possible  that  Miss  La 
Touche  may  shortly  be  seeing  trouble,  and  it  would 
give  me  pleasure  to  be  near  and  ready  to  bear  a 
hand.  She  is  a  lady  for  whom  I  have  got  consider- 
able regard.  That  supper,  sir,  which  we  have  just 
eaten,  and  the  wine,  are  things  which  will  live  in  my 
memory." 

He  stepped  out  on  to  the  roof,  and  Donna  Clotilde 


6o  ADVENTURES  OF  CAPTAIN   KETTLE. 

came  to  meet  him.  She  linked  her  fingers  upon 
his  arm,  and  led  him  apart  from  the  rest.  At  the 
further  angle  of  the  gardens  they  leaned  their  elbows 
upon  the  parapet,  and  talked,  whilst  the  glow  from 
the  street  below  faintly  lit  their  faces,  and  the  fire- 
flies winked  behind  their  backs. 

"  I  thank  you.  Captain,  for  your  offer,"  she  said  at 
length,  "  and  I  accept  it  as  freely  as  it  was  given. 
I  have  had  proposals  of  similar  service  before,  but 
they  came  from  the  wrong  sort.  I  wanted  a  man, 
and  I  found  out  that  you  were  that  before  you  had 
been  at  the  dinner  table  five  minutes." 

Captain  Kettle  bowed  to  the  compliment. 
"  But,"  said  he,  "  if  I  am  that,  I  have  all  a  man's 
failings." 

"  I  like  them  better,"  said  the  lady,  "  than  a  half- 
man's  virtues.  And  as  a  proof  I  offer  you  command 
of  my  navy." 

"Your  navy.  Miss?" 

"  It  has  yet  to  be  formed,"  said  Donna  Clotilde, 
"  and  you  must  form  it.  But,  once  we  make  the 
nucleus,  other  ships  of  the  existing  force  will  desert 
to  us,  and  with  those  we  must  fight  and  beat  the 
rest.  Once  we  have  the  navy,  we  can  bombard  the 
ports  into  submission  till  the  country  thrusts  out 
President  Quijarra  of  its  own  accord,  and  sets  me  up 
in  his  place." 

"  Oh,"  said  Kettle,  "  I  didn't  understand.  Then 
you  want  to  be  Queen  of  Chili  ?  " 

"  President." 

"  But  a  president  is  a  man,  isn't  he  ?  ** 

"  Why  ?    Answer  me  that." 


THE   WAR-STEAMER   OF   DONNA   CLOTILDE.     6l 

"  Because — well,  because  they  always  have  been, 
Miss." 

"  Because  men  up  to  now  have  always  taken  the 
best  things  to  themselves.  Well,  Captain,  all  that 
is  changing ;  the  world  is  moving  on  ;  and  women 
are  forcing  their  way  in,  and  taking  their  proper 
place.  You  say  that  no  state  has  had  a  woman- 
president.  You  are  quite  right.  I  shall  be  the  first." 
Captain  Kettle  frowned  a  little,  and  looked 
thoughtfully  down  into  the  lighted  street  beneath. 
But  presently  he  made  up  his  mind,  and  spoke  again. 

"  I'll  accept  your  offer,  Miss,  to  command  the 
navy,  and  I'll  do  the  work  well.  You  may  rely  on 
that.  Although  I  say  it  myself,  you'd  find  it  hard 
to  get  a  better  man.  I  know  the  kind  of  brutes  one 
has  to  ship  as  seamen  along  this  South  American 
coast,  and  I'm  the  sort  of  brute  to  handle  them. 
By  James,  yes,  and  you  shall  see  me  make  them  do 
most  things,  short  of  miracles. 

"  But  there's  one  other  thing.  Miss,  I  ought  to 
say,  and  I  must  apologise  for  mentioning  it,  seeing 
that  you're  not  a  business  person.  I  must  have  my 
twelve  pound  a  month,  and  all  found.  I  know  it's 
a  lot,  and  I  know  you'll  tell  me  wages  are  down  just 
now.  But  I  couldn't  do  it  for  less,  Miss.  Com- 
manding a  navy's  a  strong  order,  and,  besides, 
there's  considerable  risk  to  be  counted  in  as  well." 

Donna  Clotilde  took  his  hand  in  both  hers. 

*'  I  thank  you.  Captain,"  she  said,  "  for  your  offer, 
and  I  begin  to  see  success  ahead  from  this  moment. 
You  need  have  no  fear  on  the  question  of  remunera- 
tion." 

"  I  hope  you  didn't  mind  my  mentioning  it,"  said 


62  ADVENTURES   OF   CAPTAIN   KETTLE. 

Kettle  nervously.  "  I  know  it's  not  a  thing  gener. 
ally  spoken  of  to  ladies.  But  you  see,  Miss,  I'm  a 
poor  man,  and  feel  the  need  of  money  sometimes. 

Of  course,  twelve  pound  a  month  is  high,  but " 

"  My  dear  Captain,"  the  lady  broke  in,  "  what  you 
ask  is  moderation  itself  ;  and,  believe  me,  I  respect 
you  for  it,  and  will  not  forget.  Knowing  who  I  am, 
no  other  man  in  Chili  would  have  hesitated  to  ask  " 
— she  had  on  her  tongue  to  say  "  a  hundred  times 
as  much,"  but  suppressed  that  and  said — "  more. 
But  in  the  meantime,"  said  she,  "  will  you  accept 
this  hundred-pound  note  for  any  current  expenses 
which  may  occur  to  you  ?  " 

A  little  old  green-painted  barque  lay  hove-to  under 
sail,  disseminating  the  scent  of  guano  through  the 
sweet  tropical  day.  Under  her  square  counter  the 
name  El  Almirante  Cochrane  appeared  in  clean 
white  lettering.  The  long  South  Pacific  swells  lifted 
her  lazily  from  hill  to  valley  of  the  blue  water,  to 
the  accompaniment  of  squealing  gear  and  a  certain 
groaning  of  fabric.  The  Chilian  coast  lay  afar  off, 
as  a  white  featherj'^  line  against  one  fragment  of  the 
sea-rim. 

The  green-painted  barque  was  old.  For  many  a 
weary  year  had  she  carried  guano  from  rainless 
Chilian  islands  to  the  ports  of  Europe;  and  though 
none  of  that  unsavoury  cargo  at  present  festered 
beneath  her  hatches,  though,  indeed,  she  was  in 
shingle  ballast  and  had  her  holds  scrubbed  down  and 
fitted  with  bunks  for  men,  the  aroma  of  it  had 
entered  into  the  v^ry  soul  of  her  fabric,  and  not  all 
the  washings  of  the  sea  could  remove  it. 


THE   WAR-STEAMER   OF   DONNA   CLOTILDE.     63 

A  white  whaleboat  lay  astern,  riding  to  a  grass- 
rope  painter,  and  SefJor  Carlos  Silva,  whom  the 
whaleboat  had  brought  off  from  the  Chilian  beach, 
sat  in  the  barque's  deck-house  talking  to  Captain 
Kettle. 

"The  Sefiorita  will  be  very  disappointed,"  said 
Silva. 

"  I  can  imagine  her  disappointment,"  returned  the 
sailor.  "  I  can  measure  it  by  my  own.  I  can  tell 
you,  sir,  when  I  saw  this  filthy,  stinking,  old  wind- 
jammer Avaiting  for  me  in  Callao,  I  could  have  sat 
down  right  where  I  was  and  cried.  I'd  got  my  men 
together,  and  I  guess  I'd  talked  big  about  El  Almi- 
rante  Cochrane,  the  fine  new  armoured  cruiser  we 
were  to  do  wonders  in.  The  only  thing  I  knew 
about  her  was  her  name,  but  Miss  La  Touche  had 
promised  me  the  finest  ship  that  could  be  got,  and 
I  only  described  what  I  thought  a  really  fine  ship 
would  be.  And,  then,  when  the  agent  stuck  out  his 
finger  and  pointed  out  this  foul  old  violet-bed,  I  tell 
you  it  was  a  bit  of  a  let  down." 

"  There's  been  some  desperate  robbery  some- 
where," said  Silva. 

"  It  didn't  take  me  long  to  guess  that,"  said 
Kettle,  "  and  I  concluded  the  agent  was  the  thief, 
and  started  in  to  take  it  out  of  him  without  further 
talk.  He  hadn't  a  pistol,  so  I  only  used  my  hands 
to  him,  but  I  guess  I  fingered  him  enough  in  three 
minutes  to  stop  his  dancing  for  another  month.  He 
swore  by  all  the  saints  he  was  innocent,  and  that  he 
was  only  the  tool  of  other  men ;  and  perhaps  that 
was  so.  But  he  deserved  what  he  got  for  being  in 
such  shady  employment." 


64  ADVENTURES   OF   CAPTAIN    KETTLE. 

*'  Still,  that  didn't  procure  you  another  ship  ?  " 

"  Hammering  the  agent  couldn't  make  him  do  an 
impossibiHty,  sir.  There  wasn't  such  a  vessel  as  I 
wanted  in  all  the  ports  of  Peru.  So  I  just  took 
this  nosegay  that  was  offered,  lured  my  crew  aboard, 
and  put  out  past  San  Lorenzo  island,  and  got  to 
sea.  It's  a  bit  of  a  come  down,  sir,  for  a  steamer- 
sailor  like  me,"  the  little  man  added  with  a  sigh, 
"to  put  an  old  wind-jammer  through  her  gymnas- 
tics again.  I  thought  I'd  done  with  *  mainsail  haul' 
and  rawhide  chafing  gear,  and  all  the  white  wings 
nonsense,  for  good  and  always." 

"But,  Captain,  what  did  you  come  out  for? 
What  earthly  good  can  you  do  with  an  old  wreck 
like  this?" 

"  Why,  sir,  I  shall  carry  out  what  was  arranged 
with  Miss  La  Touche.  I  shall  come  up  with  one  of 
President  Quijarra's  Government  vessels,  capture  her 
and  then  start  in  to  collar  the  rest.  There's  no 
alteration  in  the  programme.  It's  only  made  more 
difficult,  that's  all." 

"  I  rowed  out  here  to  the  rendezvous  to  tell  you 
the  Cancelario  is  at  moorings  in  Tampique  Bay, 
and  that  the  Senorita  would  like  to  see  you  make 
your  beginning  upon  her.  But  what's  the  good  of 
that  news,  now  ?  The  Cancelario  is  a  fine  new  war- 
ship of  3000  tons.  She's  fitted  with  everything 
modern  in  guns  and  machinery,  she's  three  hundred 
men  of  a  crew,  and  she  lays  always  with  steam  up 
and  an  armed  watch  set.  To  go  near  her  in  this 
clumsy  little  barque  would  be  to  make  yourself 
a  laughing-stock.  Why,  your  English  Cochrane 
wouldn't  have  done  it." 


THE   WAR-STEAMER   OF   DONNA   CLOTILDE.     6$ 

**  I  know  nothing  about  Lord  Cochrane,  Mr.  Silva. 
He  was  dead  before  my  time.  But  whatever  people 
may  have  done  to  him,  I  can  tell  anyone  who  cares 
to  hear,  that  the  man  who's  talking  to  you  now  is  a 
bit  of  an  awkward  handful  to  laugh  at.  No,  sir, 
I  expect  there'll  be  trouble  over  it,  but  you  may 
tell  Miss  La  Touche  we  shall  have  the  Cancelarioy 
if  she'll  stay  in  Tampique  Bay  till  I  can  drive  this 
old  lavender-box  up  to  her." 

For  a  minute  Silva  stared  in  silent  wonder. 

"  Then,  Captain,"  said  he,  "  all  I  can  think  is,  that 
you  must  have  enormous  trust  in  your  crew." 

Captain  Kettle  bit  the  end  from  a  fresh  cigar. 
"You  should  go  and  look  at  them  for  yourself," 
said  he,  "  and  hear  their  talk,  and  then  you'd  know. 
The  beasts  are  fit  to  eat  me  already." 

"  How  did  you  get  them  on  board  ?  " 

"  Well,  you  see,  sir,  I  collected  them  by  promises 
— fine  pay,  fine  ship,  fine  cruise,  fine  chances,  and 
so  on  ;  and,  when  I'd  only  this  smelling  bottle  here 
to  show  them,  they  hung  back  a  bit.  If  there'd  been 
only  twenty  of  them,  I  don't  say  but  what  I  could 
have  hustled  them  on  board  with  a  gun  and  some 
ugly  words.  But  sixty  were  too  many  to  tackle  ;  so 
I  just  said  to  them  that  El  Almirante  Cochrane  was 
only  a  ferry  to  take  us  across  to  a  fine  war  steamer 
that  was  lying  out  of  sight  elsewhere  ;  and  they 
swallowed  the  yarn,  and  stepped  in  over  the  side. 

"  I  can't  say  they've  behaved  like  lambs  since. 
The  grub's  not  been  to  their  fancy,  and  I  must  say 
the  biscuit  was  crawling ;  and  it  seems  that  as  a 
bedroom  the  hold  hurt  their  delicate  noses;  and, 
between  one  thing  and  another,  I've  had  to  shoot 
5 


66  ADVENTURES   OF  CAPTAIN  KETTLE. 

six  of  them  before  they  understood  I  was  skipper 
here.  You  see,  sir,  they  were  most  of  them  living 
in  Callao  before  they  shipped,  because  there's  no 
extradition  there ;  and  so  they're  rather  a  toughish 
crowd  to  handle." 

"  What  a  horrible  time  you  must  have  had  !  " 

"  There  has  been  no  kid-glove  work  for  me,  sir, 
since  I  got  to  sea  with  this  rose  garden;  and  I  must 
say  it  would  have  knocked  the  poetry  right  out  of 
most  men.  But,  personally,  I  can't  say  it  has  done 
that  to  me.  You'd  hardly  believe  it,  sir,  but  once 
or  twice,  when  the  whole  lot  of  the  brutes  have  been 
raging  against  me,  I've  been  very  nearly  happy. 
And  afterwards,  when  I've  got  a  spell  of  rest,  I've 
picked  up  pen  and  paper  and  knocked  off  one  or 
two  of  the  prettiest  sonnets  a  man  could  wish  to  see 
in  print.  If  you  like,  sir,  I'll  read  you  a  couple  be- 
fore you  go  back  to  )'our  whaleboat." 

"  I  thank  you,  Skipper,  but  not  now.  Time  is  on 
the  move,  and  Donna  Clotilde  is  waiting  for  me. 
What  am  I  to  tell  her?" 

"  Say,  of  course,  that  her  orders  are  being  carried 
out,  and  her  pay  being  earned." 

"  My  poor  fellow,"  said  Silva,  with  a  sudden  gush 
of  remorse,  "  you  are  only  sacrificing  yourself  use- 
lessly. What  can  you,  in  a  small  sailing  vessel  like 
this,  do  with  your  rifles  against  a  splendidly  armed 
vessel  like  the  Cancelario  ?  " 

"Not  much  in  the  shooting  line,  that's  certain," 
said  Kettle  cheerfully.  "  That  beautiful  agent  sold 
us  even  over  the  ammunition.  There  were  kegs  put 
on  board  marked  '  cartridges,'  but  when  I  came  to 
break  one  or  two  so  as  to  serve  out  a  little  ammuni- 


THE   WAR-STEAMER   OF   DONNA   CLOTILDE.     6/ 

tion,  for  practice,  be  hanged  if  the  kegs  weren't  full 
of  powder.  And  it  wasn't  the  stuff  for  guns  even  ;  it 
was  blasting  powder,  same  as  they  use  in  the  mines. 
Oh,  sir,  that  agent  was  the  holiest  kind  of  fraud." 

Silva  wrung  his  hands.  "  Captain,"  he  cried,  "  you 
must  not  go  on  with  this  mad  cruise.  It  would  be 
sheer  suicide  for  you  to  find  the  Cancelario." 

"  You  shall  give  me  news  of  it  again  after  I've 
met  her,"  said  Captain  Kettle.  "  For  the  present, 
sir,  I  follow  out  Miss  La  Touche's  orders,  and  earn 
my  £\2  a  month.  But  if  you're  my  friend,  Mr. 
Silva,  and  want  to  do  me  a  good  turn,  you  might 
hint  that  if  things  go  well,  I  could  do  with  a  rise  to 
£\4dL  month  when  I'm  sailingthe  Cancelario for  her." 

The  outline  of  Tampique  Bay  stood  out  clearly 
in  bright  moonshine,  and  the  sea  down  the  path 
of  the  moon's  rays  showed  a  canal  of  silver,  cut 
through  rolling  fields  of  purple.  The  green-painted 
barque  was  heading  into  the  bay  on  the  port  tack ; 
and  at  moorings,  before  the  town,  in  the  curve  of 
the  shore,  the  grotesque  spars  of  a  modern  warship 
showed  in  black  silhouette  against  the  moonbeams. 
A  slate-coloured  naphtha-launch  was  sliding  out  over 
the  swells  towards  the  barque. 

Captain  Kettle  came  up  from  below,  and  watched 
the  naphtha-launch  with  throbbing  interest.  He 
had  hatched  a  scheme  for  capturing  the  Cancelario^ 
and  had  made  his  preparations ;  and  here  was  an 
interruption  coming  which  might  very  well  upset 
everything  most  ruinously.  Nor  was  he  alone  in  his 
regard.  The  barque's  topgallant  rail  was  lined  with 
faces;   all   her  complement   were   wondering   who 


68  ADVENTURES   OF   CAPTAIN   KETTLE. 

these  folk  might  be  who  were  so  confidently  coming 
out  to  meet  them. 

A  Jacob's  ladder  was  thrown  over  the  side ;  the 
slate-coloured  launch  swept  up,  and  emitted — a 
woman.  Captain  Kettle  started,  and  went  down 
into  the  waist  to  meet  her.  A  minute  later  he  was 
wondering  whether  he  dreamed,  or  whether  he  was 
really  walking  his  quarterdeck  in  company  with 
Donna  Clotilde  La  Touche.  But  meanwhile  the 
barque  held  steadily  along  her  course. 

The  talk  between  them  was  not  for  long. 
"  I   must   beseech   you,  Miss,  to  go  back  from 
where  you  came,"  said  Kettle.      "You  must  trust 
me  to  carry  out  this  business  without  your  super- 
vision." 

"  Is  your  method  very  dangerous?  "  she  asked. 

"  I  couldn't  recommend  it  to  an  Insurance  Com- 
pany," said  Kettle  thoughtfully. 

**  Tell  me  your  scheme." 

Kettle  did  so  in  some  forty  words.  He  was  pithy, 
and  Donna  Clotilde  was  cool.  She  heard  him  with- 
out change  of  colour. 

"Ah,"  she  said,  "  I  think  you  will  do  it." 

"You  will  know  one  way  or  another  within  an 
hour  from  now.  Miss.  But  I  must  ask  you  to  take 
your  launch  to  a  distance.  As  I  tell  you,  I  have 
made  all  my  own  boats  so  that  they  won't  swim  ; 
but,  if  your  little  craft  was  handy,  my  crew  would 
jump  overboard  and  risk  the  sharks,  and  try  to  reach 
her  in  spite  of  all  I  could  do  to  stop  them.  They 
won't  be  anxious  to  fight  that  Cancelario  when 
the  time  comes,  if  there's  any  way  of  wriggling  out 
of  it." 


THE  WAR-STEAMER   OF  DONNA  CLOTILDE.     69 

"  You  are  quite  right,  Captain ;  the  launch  must 
go  ;  only  I  do  not.  I  must  be  your  guest  here  till 
you  can  put  me  on  the  Cancelario" 

Captain  Kettle  frowned.  "  What's  coming  is  no 
job  for  a  woman  to  be  in  at,  Miss." 

"You  must  leave  me  to  my  own  opinion  about 
that.  You  see,  we  differ  upon  what  a  woman 
should  do,  Captain.  You  say  a  woman  should  not 
be  president  of  a  republic  ;  you  think  a  woman 
should  not  be  sharer  in  a  fight :  I  am  going  to  show 
you  how  a  woman  can  be  both."  She  leant  her 
shoulders  over  the  rail,  and  hailed  the  naptha-launch 
with  a  sharp  command.  A  man  in  the  bows  cast 
off  the  line  with  which  it  towed ;  the  man  aft  put 
over  his  tiller,  and  set  the  engines  a-going;  and, 
like  a  slim,  grey  ghost,  the  launch  slid  quietly  away 
into  the  gloom.  "You  see,"  she  said,  "I'm  bound 
to  stay  with  you  now."  And  she  looked  upon  him 
with  a  burning  glance. 

But  Kettle  replied  coldly.  "  You  are  my  owner. 
Miss,"  he  said,  "  and  can  do  as  you  wish.  It  is  not 
for  me  now  to  say  that  you  are  foolish.  Do  I  un- 
derstand you  still  wish  me  to  carry  out  my  original 
plan  ?  " 

"  Yes,"  she  said  curtly. 

"Very  well.  Miss,  then  we  shall  be  aboard  of  that 
war-steamer  in  less  than  fifteen  minutes."  He  bade 
his  second  mate  call  aft  the  crew ;  but  instead  of 
remaining  to  meet  them,  he  took  a  keen  glance  at 
the  barque's  canvas,  another  at  her  wake,  another 
at  the  moored  cruiser  ahead,  and  then,  after  peering 
thoughtfully  at  the  clouds  which  sailed  in  the  sky, 
he  went  to  the  companion-way  and  dived  below. 


•JO  ADVENTURES   OF  CAPTAIN   KETTLE. 

The  crew  trooped  aft  and  stood  at  the  break  of  the 
quarterdeck  waiting  for  him.  And  in  the  mean- 
while they  feasted  their  eyes  with  many  different 
thoughts  on  Donna  Clotilde  La  Touche. 

Presently  Captain  Kettle  returned  to  deck,  ag- 
gressive and  cheerful,  and  faced  the  men  with  hands 
in  his  jacket  pockets.  Each  pocket  bulged  with 
something  heavy,  and  the  men,  who  by  this  time 
had  come  to  understand  Captain  Kettle's  ways,  be- 
gan to  grow  quiet  and  nervous.  He  came  to  the 
point  without  any  showy  oratory. 

"  Now,  my  lads,"  said  he,  "  I  told  you  when  you 
shipped  aboard  this  lavender-box  in  Callao,  that 
she  was  merely  a  ferry  to  carry  you  to  a  fine  war- 
steamer  which  was  lying  elsewhere.  Well,  there's 
the  steamer,  just  off  the  starboard  bow  yonder. 
Her  name's  the  Cancelario^  and  at  present  she  seems 
to  belong  to  President  Quijarra's  Government. 
But  Miss  La  Touche  here  (who  is  employing  both 
me  and  you,  just  for  the  present)  intends  to  set  up 
a  Government  of  her  own;  and,  as  a  preliminary, 
she  wants  that  ship.     We've  to  grab  it  for  her." 

Captain  Kettle  broke  off,  and  for  a  full  minute 
there  was  silence.  Then  some  one  amongst  the  men 
laughed,  and  a  dozen  others  joined  in. 

"  That's  right,"  said  Kettle.  "  Cackle  away,  you 
scum.  You'd  be  singing  a  different  tune  if  you  knew 
what  was  beneath  you." 

A  voice  from  the  gloom — an  educated  voice — an- 
swered him :  "  Don't  be  foolish.  Skipper.  We're 
not  going  to  ram  our  heads  against  a  brick  wall 
like  that.     We  set  some  value  on  our  lives." 

"  Do  you  ?  "  said  Kettle.     "  Then  pray  that  this 


THE  WAR-STEAMER   OF   DONNA   CLOTILDE.     Jl 

breeze  doesn't  drop  (as  it  seems  likely  to  do),  of 
you'll  lose  them.  Shall  I  tell  you  what  I  was  up 
to  below  just  now  ?  You  remember  those  kegs  of 
blasting  powder?  Weil,  they're  in  the  lazaret, 
where  some  of  you  stowed  them  ;  but  they're  all  of 
them  unheaded,  and  one  of  them  carries  the  end 
of  a  fuse.  That  fuse  is  cut  to  burn  just  twenty 
minutes,  and  the  end's  lighted, 

"  Wait  a  bit.  It's  no  use  going  to  try  and  douse 
it.  There's  a  pistol  fixed  to  the  lazaret  hatch,  and 
if  you  try  to  lift  it  that  pistol  will  shoot  into  the 
powder,  we'll  all  go  up  together  without  further 
palaver.  Steady  now  there,  and  hear  me  out. 
You  can't  lower  away  boats,  and  get  clear  that  way. 
The  boat's  bottoms  will  tumble  away  so  soon  as 
you  try  to  hoist  them  off  the  skids.  I  saw  to  that 
last  night.  And  you  can't  require  any  telling  to 
know  there  are  far  too  many  sharks  about,  to  make 
a  swim  healthy  exercise." 

The  men  began  to  rustle  and  talk. 

"Now,  don't  spoil  your  only  chance,"  said  Kettle, 
*'by  singing  out.  If  on  the  cruiser  yonder  they 
think  there's  anything  wrong,  they'll  run  out  a  g^n 
or  two,  and  blow  us  out  of  the  water  before  we  can 
come  near  them.  I've  got  no  arms  to  give  you  ; 
but  yov  have  your  knives,  and  I  guess  you 
shouldn't  want  more.  Get  in  the  shadow  of  the 
rail  there,  and  keep  hid  till  you  hear  her  bump. 
Then  jump  on  board,  knock  everybody  you  see 
over  the  side,  and  keep  the  rest  below." 

"  They'll  see  us  coming,"  whimpered  a  voice. 
**  They'll  never  let  us  board." 

"  They'll  hear  us,"  the  Captain  retorted,  "  if  you 


72  ADVENTURES   OF   CAPTAIN   KETTLE. 

gallows-ornaments  bellow  like  that,  and  then  all 
we'll  have  to  do  will  be  to  sit  tight  where  we  are 
till  that  powder  blows  us  like  a  thin  kind  of  spray 
up  against  the  stars.  Now,  get  to  cover  with  you, 
all  hands,  and  not  another  sound.  It's  your  only 
chance." 

The  men  crept  away,  shaking,  and  Captain  Kettle 
himself  took  the  wheel,  and  appeared  to  drowse 
over  it.  He  gave  her  half  a  spoke  at  a  time,  and 
by  invisible  degrees  the  barque  fell  off  till  she 
headed  dead  on  for  the  cruiser.  Save  for  the  faint 
creaking  of  her  gear,  no  sound  came  from  her,  and 
she  slunk  on  through  the  night  like  some  patched 
and  tattered  phantom.  Far  down  in  her  lazaret 
the  glowing  end  of  the  fuse  crept  nearer  to  the 
powder  barrels,  and  in  imagination  every  mind  on 
board  was  following  its  race. 

Nearer  and  nearer  she  drew  to  the  Cancelario, 
and  ever  nearer.  The  waiting  men  felt  as  though 
the  hearts  of  them  would  leap  from  their  breasts. 
Two  of  them  fainted.  Then  came  a  hail  from  the 
cruiser:  "  Barque,  ahoy,  are  you  all  asleep  there?" 

Captain  Kettle  drowsed  on  over  the  wheel. 
Donna  Clotilde,  from  the  shadow  of  the  house, 
could  see  him  nodding  like  a  man  in  deep  sleep. 

"  Carrajo  !  you  barque,  there !  Put  down  your 
helm.     You'll  be  aboard  of  us  in  a  minute." 

Kettle  made  no  reply :  his  hands  sawed  automati- 
cally at  the  spokes,  and  the  glow  from  the  pin- 
nacle fell  upon  close-shut  eyes.  It  was  a  fine  bit  of 
acting. 

The  Chilians  shouted,  but  they  could  not  prevent 
the  collision,  and  when  it  came  there  broke  out  a 


THE   WAR-STEAMER   OF   DONNA   CLOTILDE.     73 

yell  as  though  the  gates  of  the  pit  had  been  sud- 
denly unlocked. 

The  barque's  crew  of  human  refuse,  mad  with  ter- 
ror, rose  up  in  a  flock  from  behind  the  bulwarks. 
As  one  man  they  clambered  over  the  cruiser's  side 
and  spread  about  her  decks. 

Ill  provided  with  weapons  though  they  might  be, 
the  Chilians  were  scarcely  better  armed.  A  sentry 
squibbed  off  his  rifle,  but  that  was  the  only  shot 
fired.  Knives  did  the  greater  part  of  the  work, — 
knives  and  belaying  pins,  and  whatever  else  came 
to  hand.  Those  of  the  watch  on  deck  who  did  not 
run  below  were  cleared  into  the  sea ;  the  berth  deck 
was  stormed  ;  and  the  waking  men  surrendered  to 
the  pistol  nose. 

A  couple  of  desperate  fellows  went  below,  and 
cowed  the  firemen  and  engineer  on  watch.  The 
mooring  was  slipped,  steam  was  given  to  the  engines, 
and  whilst  her  former  crew  were  being  drafted  down 
into  an  empty  hold,  the  Cancelario  was  standing  out 
at  a  sixteen-knot  speed  towards  the  open  sea  under 
full  command  of  the  raiders.  Then  from  behind 
them  came  the  roar  of  an  explosion  and  a  spurt  of 
dazzling  light,  and  the  men  shuddered  to  think  of 
what  they  had  so  narrowly  missed.  And  as  it  was 
some  smelling  fragments  of  the  old  guano  barque 
lit  upon  the  afterdeck,  as  they  fell  headlong  from 
the  dark  sky  above. 

Donna  Clotilde  went  on  to  the  upper  bridge,  and 
took  Captain  Kettle  by  the  hand. 

"  My  friend,"  she  said,  "  I  shall  never  forget  this." 
And  she  looked  at  him  with  eyes  that  spoke  of  more 
than  admiration  for  his  success. 


74  ADVENTURES   OF   CAPTAIN    KETTLE. 

**  I  am  earning  my  pay,"  said  Kettle. 

"  Pah  !  "  she  said,  "  don't  let  money  come  between 
us.  I  cannot  bear  to  think  of  you  in  connection 
with  sordid  things  like  that.  I  put  you  on  a  higher 
plane.  Captain,"  she  said,  and  turned  her  head 
away,  "  I  shall  choose  a  man  like  you  for  husband." 

"  Heaven  mend  your  taste.  Miss,"  said  Kettle ; 
"  but — there  may  be  others  like  me." 

"  There  are  not." 

"  Then  you  must  be  content  with  the  nearest  you 
can  get." 

Donna  Clotilde  stamped  her  foot  upon  the  plank- 
ing of  the  bridge. 

"  You  are  dull,"  she  cried. 

**  No,"  he  said,  "  I  have  got  clear  sight.  Miss. 
Won't  you  go  below  now  and  get  a  spell  of  sleep  ? 
Or  will  you  give  me  your  orders  first  ?  " 

"  No,"  she  answered,  "  I  will  not.  We  must  settle 
this  matter  first.  You  have  a  wife  in  England,  I 
know,  but  that  is  nothing.  Divorce  is  simple  here. 
I  have  influence  with  the  Church ;  you  could  be  set 
free  in  a  day.  Am  I  not  the  woman  you  would 
choose?" 

"  Miss  La  Touche,  you  are  my  employer." 

"  Answer  my  question." 

"  Then.  Miss,  if  you  will  have  it,  you  are  not." 

"But  why?  Why?  Give  me  your  reasons? 
You  are  brave.  Surely  I  have  shown  courage  too? 
Surely  you  must  admire  that?" 

"  I  like  men  for  men's  work.  Miss." 

"  But  that  is  an  exploded  notion.  Women  have 
got  to  take  their  place.  They  must  show  themselves 
the  equals  of  men  in  everything." 


THE   WAR-STEAMER   OF  DONNA   CLOTILDE.     75 

"  But  you  see,  Miss,"  said  Kettle,  "  I  prefer  to  be 
linked  to  a  lady  who  is  my  superior — as  I  am  linked 
at  present.  If  it  pleases  you,  we  had  better  end 
this  talk." 

"No,"  said  Donna  Clotilde,  "  it  has  got  to  be 
settled  one  way  or  the  other.  You  know  what  I 
want.  Marry  me  as  soon  as  you  are  set  free,  and 
there  shall  be  no  end  of  your  power.  I  will  make 
you  rich  ;  I  will  make  you  famous.  Chili  shall  be  at 
our  feet  ;  the  world  shall  bow  to  us." 

"  It  could  be  done,"  said  Kettle  with  a  sigh. 

"  Then  marry  me." 

"  With  due  respect,  I  will  not,"  said  the  little 
man. 

"  You  know  you  are  speaking  to  a  woman  who  is 
not  accustomed  to  be  thwarted?" 

Captain  Kettle  bowed. 

**  Then  you  will  either  do  as  I  wish,  or  leave  this 
ship.     I  give  you  an  hour  to  consider  it  in." 

"  You  will  find  my  second  mate  the  best  navigat- 
ing officer  left,"  said  Kettle,  and  Donna  Clotilde, 
without  further  words,  left  the  bridge. 

The  little  shipmaster  waited  for  a  decent  interval, 
and  then  sighed,  and  gave  orders.  The  men  on 
deck  obeyed  him  with  quickness.  A  pair  of  boat 
davits  were  swung  out-board,  and  the  boat  plenti- 
fully victualled  and  its  water-breakers  filled.  The 
Cancelario  s  engines  were  stopped,  and  the  tackles 
screamed  as  the  boat  was  lowered  to  the  water,  and 
rode  there  at  the  end  of  its  painter.  Captain  Kettle 
left  the  bridge  in  charge  of  his  first  officer,  and  went 
below.  He  found  the  lady  sitting  in  the  com- 
mander's cabin,  with  head  pillowed  upon  her  arms. 


76  ADVENTURES   OF   CAPTAIN   KETTLE. 

"  You  still  wish  me  to  go,  Miss  ?"  he  said. 

"  If  you  will  not  accept  what  is  offered." 

"  I  am  sorry,"  said  the  little  sailor,  "  very  sorry. 
If  I'd  met  you,  Miss,  before  I  saw  Mrs.  Kettle,  and 
if  you'd  been  a  bit  different,  I  believe  I  could  have 
liked  you.     But  as  it  is " 

She  leaped  to  her  feet,  with  eyes  that  blazed. 

"  Go !  "  she  cried.  "  Go,  or  I  will  call  upon  some 
of  those  fellows  to  shoot  you." 

"They  will  do  it  cheerfully,  if  you  ask  them,"  said 
Kettle,  and  did  not  budge. 

She  sank  down  on  the  sofa  again  with  a  wail. 

"Oh,  go,"  she  cried.  "  If  you  are  a  man  go,  and 
never  let  me  see  you  again." 

Captain  Kettle  bowed,  and  went  on  deck. 

A  little  later  he  was  alone  in  the  quarter-boat. 
The  Cancelario  was  drawing  fast  away  from  him 
into  the  night,  and  the  boat  danced  in  the  cream  of 
her  wake. 

"  Ah,  well,"  he  said  to  himself,  "  there's  another 
good  chance  gone  for  good  and  always.  What  a 
cantankerous  beggar  I  am."  And  then  for  a  mo- 
ment his  thoughts  went  elsewhere,  and  he  got  out 
paper  and  a  stump  of  pencil,  and  busily  scribbled  an 
elegy  to  some  poppies  in  a  cornfield.  The  lines  had 
just  flitted  gracefully  across  his  mind,  and  they 
seemed  far  too  comely  to  be  allowed  a  chance  of 
escape.  It  was  a  movement  characteristic  of  his 
queerly  ordered  brain.  After  the  more  ugly  mo- 
ments of  his  life,  Captain  Owen  Kettle  always  turned 
to  the  making  of  verse  as  an  instinctive  relief. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

THE    PILGRIM    SHIP. 

Even  before  he  left  Jeddah,  Captain  Kettle  was 
quite  aware  that  by  shipping  pilgrims  on  the  iron 
deck  of  the  Saigon  for  transit  across  the  Red  Sea,  he 
was  trangressing  the  laws  of  several  nations,  espe- 
cially those  of  Great  Britain  and  her  Dependencies. 
But  what  else  could  the  poor  man  do  ?  Situated  as 
he  was,  with  such  a  tempting  opportunity  ready  to 
his  hand,  he  would  have  been  less  than  human  if  he 
had  neglected  to  take  the  bargain  which  was  offered. 
And  though  the  list  of  things  that  has  been  said 
against  Captain  Owen  Kettle  is  both  black  and  long, 
I  am  not  aware  that  anyone  has  yet  alleged  that  the 
little  sailor  was  anything  more  or  less  than  human 
in  all  his  many  frailties. 

Cortolvin  came  to  the  chart-house  and  put  this 
matter  of  illegality  to  him  in  plain  words  when  the 
engines  chose  to  break  down  two  days  out  of  Jeddah, 
and  the  Saigon  lolled  helpless  in  the  blazing  Red 
Sea  heat. 

Cortolvin  up  to  that  time  had  not  made  himself 
remarked.  He  had  marched  on  board  from  the  new 
Jeddah  quay  where  the  railway  is,  and  posed  as  an 
Arab  of  the  Sahara  who  was  glorying  in  the  newly- 
acquired  green  turban  of  a  Hadji ;  he  was  nicked  on 

77 


78  ADVENTURES    OF   CAPTAIN   KETTLE, 

the  mate's  tally  as  a  "  nigger,"  along  with  some  three 
hundred  and  forty  dark-skinned  followers  of  the 
Prophet ;  and  he  had  spent  those  two  days  upon  an 
orthodox  square  of  ragged  carpet,  spread  on  the 
rusted  iron  plating  of  the  lower  fore  deck. 

When  the  pilgrims  had  mustered  for  victualling, 
he  had  filed  in  with  the  rest,  and  held  out  a  brass 
lotah  for  his  ration  of  water,  and  a  tattered  square  of 
canvas  for  his  dole  of  steamed  rice.  You  could 
count  his  ribs  twenty  yards  away  ;  but  he'd  the  look 
of  a  healthy  man  ;  and  when  on  mornings  he  helped 
to  throw  overboard  those  of  his  fellow-pilgrims  who 
had  died  during  the  night,  it  was  plain  to  see  that 
he  was  a  fellow  of  more  than  ordinary  muscular 
strength. 

He  came  to  Captain  Kettle  in  the  chart-house  to 
report  that  the  pilgrims  contemplated  seizing  the  Sai- 
gon so  soon  as  ever  the  engines  were  once  more  put 
in  running  order.  "  They've  declared  ay*?//^^/ against 
you,  if  you  know  what  that  is,"  said  Cortolvin. 

"  A  holy  war,  or  some  such  skittles,  isn't  it  ?  "  said 
Kettle. 

"  That's  about  the  size  of  it,"  said  the  Hadji ; 
"  you'll  have  to  look  out  if  you  intend  to  remain 
master  of  this  steamboat." 

"I  don't  require  any  teaching  of  my  business  from 
passengers,"  said  Captain  Kettle  stiffly. 

"All  right,"  said  Cortolvin,  "have  it  your  own 
way.  But  I  think  you  might  be  decently  grateful. 
I've  risked  my  life  by  coming  to  give  you  news  of 
what  was  in  the  wind.  And  you  can't  pretend  that 
the  information  is  not  useful.  You've  a  coolie  crew 
who  will  be  absolutely  foolish  if  trouble  comes — • 


THE   PILGRIM    SHIP.  79 

these  Lascars  always  are  that  way.  You've  just  your 
two  white  engineers  and  two  white  mates  to  back 
you  up,  and  the  five  of  you  wouldn't  have  a  show. 
You've  three  hundred  and  forty  fanatics  to  deal 
with,  who  are  all  fighting  bred,  and  fighting  fit. 
They're  all  well  armed,  and  they  wouldn't  a  bit 
object  to  die  scrimmaging  in  such  a  cause. 

"You  know  it's  part  of  their  creed  that  if 
they  peg-out  whilst  fighting  giaours,  they  go  slick 
to  paradise  by  lightning  express.  That  wily  old 
camel-driver  of  Mecca  painted  his  heaven  as  just 
the  sort  of  dandy  place  to  suit  this  kind  of  cattle, 
and  as  most  of  them  have  a  beast  of  a  time  on 
this  earth,  they're  anxious  to  move  along  upstairs 
whenever  a  decent  opportunity  offers  to  get  there." 

"  They'll  be  an  ugly  crowd  to  tackle :  I  grant  that." 

"  They  are  so,  and  don't  you  forget  it.  I  might 
point  out,  Captain,  that,  personally  speaking,  I'd 
been  a  lot  safer  if  I'd  stayed  down  on  the  lower  fore 
deck  yonder,  and  held  my  tongue.  They'd  have 
got  you  to  an  absolute  certainty  if  they'd  ambushed 
you  as  was  intended,  and  I  could  have  kept  out  of 
the  actual  throat-cutting  and  preserved  a  sound  skin. 
They've  all  got  profound  respect  forme:  I'm  a  very 
holy  man." 

"  And  as  it  is?" 

Hadji  Cortolvin  shrugged  his  shoulders.  "  Oh, 
I  chip  in  with  you." 

"  Will  you  tell  me  why  ?  " 

"  Cousinshipof  the  skin  I  suppose.  You're  white 
by  birth,  and  I  believe  I  should  turn  out  to  be  white 
also  if  I  kept  out  of  the  sun  for  awhile,  and  had  sev- 
eral Turkish  baths.     Of  course  I've  a  snuff-coloured 


80  ADVENTURES   OF  CAPTAIN   KETTLE. 

hide  on  me  now,  and  during  this  last  two  years  I've 
been  living  with  men  of  colour,  and  following  their 
ways,  and  thinking  their  thoughts.  Funny  isn't  it? 
I  come  across  you  ;  I  don't  know  you  from  Adam  ;  I 
can't  say  I  particularly  like  what  I've  seen  of  you  ;  and 
yet  here  am  I,  rounding  on  my  former  mates,  and 
chipping  in  with  you  on  the  clear  knowledge  that  I 
shall  probably  get  killed  during  the  next  few  hours 
for  my  pains." 

"  May  I  ask  your  name  ?  "  said  Kettle.  "  I  believe, 
sir,"  he  added  with  a  bow,  "  that  you  are  a  gentle- 
man." 

The  Hadji  laughed.  "  So  far  as  I  recollect,  I  was 
that  once,  Captain.  Sorry  I  haven't  a  card  on  me, 
but  my  name's  W.  H,  Cortolvin,  and  I  lived  near 
Richmond,  in  Yorkshire,  before  I  was  idiot  enough 
to  go  wandering  off  the  Cook's  tourist  routes  into 
the  middle  of  Arabia." 

"  I'm  Welsh  myself,"  said  Kettle,"  but  I've  known 
men  from  Yorkshire.  Shake  hands,  sir,  please.  Will 
you  have  a  whisky-peg  ?  " 

"  Pour  it  out.  Captain.  I  haven't  tasted  a  Chris- 
tian drink  for  thirty  weary  months.  And  you've 
got  a  chattie  hung  up  in  the  draught  of  a  port !  Cool 
water,  ye  gods  !  Bismillah  !  But  it  is  good  to  be 
alive  sometimes." 

Captain  Kettle  looked  with  distaste  at  the  Hadji's 
attire. 

"  Won't  you  sling  that  filthy  night-gown  thing  of 
yours  overboard,"  he  asked,  "  and  have  a  wash  ?  I 
can  rig  you  out  with  some  pyjamas  from  the  slop 
chest." 

But   Cortolvin  would    not    change   his  dirt    and 


THE  PILGRIM   SHIP.  8 1 

squalor  just  then.  He  had  worn  it  too  long  to  be  af- 
fected by  it  ;  "  and,"  said  he,  "  I  don't  want  to  adver- 
tise the  fact  that  I'm  an  Englishman  just  at  present. 
If  my  dear  friends  down  yonder  on  the  lower  deck 
knew  it,  they'd  not  wait  for  the  engines  to  be  repaired. 
They'd  fizzle  up  just  like  gunpowder  there  and  then, 
and  the  whole  lot  of  us  white  men  would  be  pulled 
into  tassels  before  we'd  time  to  think." 

"  I  don't  know  about  that,"  said  Kettle.  "  I've 
faced  some  of  the  ugliest  crowds  that  have  floated 
on  the  seas  before  this,  and  they  thought  they  were 
going  to  have  it  all  their  own  way,  but  they  found 
that  when  it  came  to  shooting  that  I  could  keep  my 
end  up  very  handily." 

He  waved  his  guest  to  a  deck  chair,  placed  a  box 
of  cheroots  hospitably  open  on  the  chart-table,  and 
then  he  went  outside  the  chart -house,  and  leant  over 
the  bridge  deck  rail.  The  awning  above  him  threw 
a  clean-cut  shade  which  swung  to  and  fro  as  the 
Saigon  rolled  over  the  faint  oily  swell ;  and  outside 
its  shelter  the  sun's  rays  fell  like  molten  brass,  and 
the  metal-work  was  hot  enough  to  raise  a  blister. 
The  air  was  motionless  and  stagnant,  and  greasy 
with  the  smell  of  humanity.  The  whole  fabric  of  the 
steamer  shimmered  in  the  dancing  heat. 

For  the  dense  mass  of  pilgrims  below  the  situa- 
tion approached  the  intolerable.  Left  to  itself,  the 
rusted  iron  deck  beneath  their  bare  skins  would 
have  grown  hot  enough  to  char  them.  Nothing  but 
a  constant  sluicing  with  water  made  it  in  any  way  to 
be  endured.  And  as  the  water  from  alongside  came 
up  to  them  as  warm  as  tea,  it  did  but  little  to  refresh. 

The   African  can  withstand  most   temperatures 


82  ADVENTURES   OF   CAPTAIN   KETTLE. 

which  are  thrown  from  above  on  to  the  face  of  this 
planet,  but  even  the  African  can  at  times  die  from 
heat  as  glibly  as  his  betters.  Even  as  Kettle 
watched,  one  of  the  pilgrims,  a  grizzle-headed  Hausa 
from  the  Western  Soudan,  was  contorted  with  heat 
apoplexy  ;  breathed  stertorously  for  a  minute  or  so  ; 
and  then  lay  still,  and  immediately  became  a  prey 
to  flies  innumerable.  Two  of  his  nearest  comrades 
bestirred  themselves  to  look  at  him,  pronounced  that 
life  was  extinct,  stood  up,  and  with  an  effort  carried 
the  body  out  of  the  press,  and  heaved  it  over  the 
hot  iron  bulwark  into  the  oily  sea  beneath.  It  is 
not  good  that  the  dead  should  remain  with  the  quick 
even  for  minutes  in  circumstances  such  as  those. 

And  whilst  the  bearers  carried  him  away,  an  old 
white-haired  negro  from  Sokoto  stood  upon  his  feet 
swaying  to  the  roll  of  the  ship,  and  faced  the  heat- 
blurred  East  with  bowed  head.  Aloud  he  bore 
witness  that  God  was  great ;  and  that  Mahomet  was 
the  Prophet  of  God ;  and  that  of  mortals,  each 
man's  fate  was  writ  big  upon  his  forehead.  And 
then  the  rest  of  the  pilgrims  bent  their  foreheads  to 
the  torturing  deck  plates,  and  made  profession  of 
the  faith,  following  his  words. 

Captain  Kettle  from  his  stand  against  the  rail  of 
the  bridge  deck  pitied  the  heathen,  and  thought  with 
a  complacent  sigh  of  a  certain  obscure  chapel  in 
South  Shields;  but  at  the  same  time  he  could  not 
avoid  being  impressed  by  the  heathen's  constancy. 
They  might  die,  but  they  forebore  to  curse  God  in 
doing  it,  and  the  omission  gave  him  an  insight  into 
the  workings  of  fatalism  which  made  him  think 
more  of  what  Cortolvin  had  said. 


THE  PILGRIM   SHIP.  83 

Every  man  amongst  the  pilgrims  had  sword,  or 
spear,  or  mace,  or  rifle  within  grip  of  his  fist ;  and 
as  a  fighting  force — with  fatalism  to  back  them — he 
began  to  realise  that  they  could  make  a  very  ugly 
company  to  mancEuvre  against.  A  regulation  of  the 
pilgrim  trade  requires  that  all  weapons  shall  be 
taken  from  this  class  of  passengers  during  the  voy- 
age, but  Kettle  had  omitted  to  disarm  them  through 
sheer  contempt  for  what  they  could  do.  If  they 
chose  to  fight  amongst  themselves,  that  was  their 
own  concern  ;  it  never  even  occurred  to  him  as  they 
came  off  Jeddah  quay,  noisy  and  odorous,  that  they 
would  dare  to  contend  against  his  imperial  will ;  but 
now  he  sincerely  wished  that  the  means  of  serious 
offence  were  not  so  handy  to  their  fingers. 

I  do  not  say  that  he  was  afraid,  for,  knowing  him 
well,  I  honestly  believe  that  the  little  ruffian  has 
never  yet  feared  man  that  was  born  of  woman  ;  but 
the  safety  of  the  Saigon  was  a  matter  just  then  very 
near  to  his  heart,  and  he  had  forebodings  as  to 
what  might  happen  to  her. 

He  went  back  again  inside  the  chart-house,  sat 
himself  upon  the  sofa,  and  ran  a  finger  round  inside 
the  collar  of  his  white  drill  coat. 

"  Do  you  like  the  cheroots,  sir?"  he  said  to  his 
tattered  guest. 

"  Nice  cheroots,"  said  Cortolvin  :  "  wonder  how 
many  I'll  smoke.  Those  True  Believers  are  a  pretty 
tough  crowd,  aren't  they  ?  There's  one  Soudanese 
fellow  in  a  Darfur  suit  of  mail.  Did  you  notice 
him  ?  He's  been  a  big  war  sheik  in  his  day.  He 
helped  to  smash  up  Hicks  Pasha's  army,  and  com- 
manded a  thousand  men  at  the  storming  of  Khar- 


&4  ADVENTURES  OF  CAPTAIN   KETTLE. 

toum  ;  but  he  got  sick  of  Mahdiism  about  a  year 
back,  and  set  out  to  perform  the  Hadj.  When 
it  comes  to  fighting,  you'll  see  that  man  will 
shine." 

"  He  shall  have  my  first  shot,"  said  Kettle. 

"  It  surprises  me,"  said  Cortolvin,  "  that  you  ever 
went  in  for  this  pilgrim-carrying  business  at  all.  You 
must  have  been  pretty  hard  pushed,  Captain." 

"  Hard  wasn't  the  word  for  it,"  said  the  ship- 
master with  a  sigh.  '*  I  met  misfortune,  sir,  in  Chili. 
I  disagreed  with  my  employer,  who  was  a  lady,  and 
went  off  cruising  in  a  boat  by  myself.  A  tea  steamer 
picked  me  up  and  put  me  in  Colombo.  I  got  from 
there  to  Bombay  as  second  mate  of  a  tramp,  but  I 
couldn't  stand  the  old  man's  tongue,  and  went  ashore 
without  my  wages.  I  guess,  sir,  I'm  no  good  except 
in  command ;  I  can't  take  an  order  civilly, 

"  Well,  in  Bombay  I'd  a  regular  nip-gut  time  of 
it.  I  bummed  round  the  agents' offices  till  I  almost 
blushed  to  look  at  their  punkah-coolies;  but  I'd  no 
papers  to  show  that  would  do  me  any  good  ;  and 
none  of  them  would  give  me  a  ship  the  size  of  a 
rice  mat. 

*'  At  last,  when  I  was  getting  desperate,  and  pretty 
near  put  to  going  to  sea  before  the  mast,  a  Cardiff 
man  I  once  knew  came  to  the  lodgings,  and  gave 
me  a  tip.  He'd  been  master  of  a  country  steamer; 
he'd  been  sacked  (he  didn't  deny  it)  for  drunkenness  ; 
he'd  not  drawn  a  sober  breath  for  months,  and  didn't 
see  any  prospect  of  changing  his  habits  ;  and  there 
was  the  berth  vacant,  and  I  might  have  it  for  the 
asking. 

"  The  pay  wasn't  much  ;  only  lOO  rupees  a  month 


THE   PILGRIM   SHIP.  8$ 

and  percentage  on  profits ;  and  the  owner  was  a 
Parsee.  I'd  never  been  low  enough  down  to  sign 
on  under  a  black  man  before,  but  I  guess  I  was  past 
being  very  nice  in  my  tastes  just  then.  The  owner 
was  fat  and  oldish,  and  wore  a  thing  on  his  head 
like  a  top  hat  turned  upside  down,  and  I  will  say  I 
did  not  give  him  much  politeness.  But  he  knew 
his  place  ;  he  sakib'd  me  quite  respectfully  ;  and  he 
said  he'd  be  honoured  if  I'd  take  his  steamer  under 
my  charge.  '  She  was  all  he'd  got,*  he  said  ;  '  he 
loved  her  like  his  life,  and  he'd  not  trust  her  to  any- 
one except  di pukka  sahib.' 

"  Of  course  he  lied  a  good  deal — all  natives  do 
that — and  he  fixed  up  our  bargain  so  that  I'd  little 
to  win  and  he'd  a  good  deal,  which  is  those  Parsees' 
way.  But  I  will  say  he  was  always  most  respectful, 
and  in  the  matter  of  victualling  he  really  surprised 
me.  Why,  he  actually  put  Bass's  ale  on  board  at 
four  annas  the  bottle  ! 

"  We  cleared  from  Bombay  in  corn,  and  cottons, 
and  earthenware,  consigned  to  Jeddah,  and  the 
owner  told  me  I'd  have  no  trouble  in  gettinga  cargo 
of  dates  and  coffee  to  bring  back.  But  the  Jeddah 
merchants  seemed  to  think  different.  I  cut  down 
freights  to  near  vanishing  point,  but  they  wouldn't 
look  at  them  anyhow.  I  couldn't  get  a  ton  of  cargo 
on  board  for  any  spot  in  the  known  globe,  no,  not  if 
I'd  offered  to  carry  it  for  nothing.  The  Saigon 
might  have  swung  thereat  moorings  till  the  bottom 
rotted  out  of  her;  and  expenses  were  running  up  all 
the  time. 

"  The  climate  was  sickly  too ;  I  lost  my  serang 
before  I'd   been  there  a  week,  and  two  more  of  the 


86  ADVENTURES   OF   CAPTAIN   KETTLE. 

coolies  died  in  the  next  ten  days.  So  when  this 
cargo  of  pilgrims  offered,  I  tell  you  I  just  jumped 
at  it.  Of  course  this  old  wreck  was  not  fitted  for 
the  trade.  She's  small,  she's  iron  decks,  she's  only 
two  boats,  and  she's  not  near  enough  water  tanks. 
There'd  be  big  penalties  if  she  was  caught.  But  I 
.shipped  a  second  rice  steamer,  and  signed  that 
charter-party  smiling. 

"  It  wasn't  as  if  I'd  got  to  go  through  the  Ditch 
to  one  of  the  Morocco  ports  ;  the  pilgrims  had  only 
to  be  taken  across  to  Kosseir ;  and  squaring  an 
Egyptian  custom  oflficer  is  only  a  case  of  how  much 
backshish." 

"  You  do  know  your  trade,"  said  Cortolvin. 

"  The  under  side  of  it,"  said  Kettle,  with  a  sigh. 
"A  man  with  luck  like  mine  has  to.  He  never  gets 
on  Avith  the  decent  steamboat  lines,  where  every- 
thing is  square  and  above  board.  He  can  only  get 
the  little  hole-and-corner  owners,  who  you've  got  to 
make  dividends  for  somehow  and  no  questions  asked 
or  else  just  up  and  take  the  dirty  sack. 

"  I'm  a  man,"  he  added  with  a  frown,  '*  that  can 
do  the  job  well,  and  they  know  it,  and  keep  me  to 
it.  But  I  despise  myself  all  the  time.  It  isn't  in 
my  nature,  Mr.  Cortolvin.  Put  me  ashore,  give  me 
a  farm,  and  let  me  bend  yellow  gaiters  and  a  large- 
pattern  coat,  and  there  wouldn't  be  a  straighter, 
sweeter-natured  man  between  here  and  heaven." 

The  Hadji  swept  the  perspiration  from  his  fore- 
head with  the  back  of  a  grimy  knuckle. 

"  There's  no  accounting  for  taste,  Captain.  I'm 
the  owner  of  acres  near  Richmond,  and  if  I  chose  I 
could  ride  about  my  park,  and  see  the  farms,  and 


THE   PILGRIM    SHIP.  8/ 

live  the  life  of  a  country  gentleman  just  in  the  way 
you  think  you'd  like.     But  I  tired  of  it." 

"  Perhaps  you  have  no  wife,  sir,"  suggested  the 
sailor. 

His  guest  gave  a  short  laugh. 

"  Oh,  Lord,  yes,"  he  said,  "  I've  a  wife." 

He  paused  a  minute  and  then  threw  his  half- 
smoked  cheroot  savagely  out  into  the  sunshine. 

"  You  can  take  it  from  me  that  I  have  a  wife, 
Captain.  But — well,  you  see,  I've  always  been  an 
Arabic  scholar,  and  I  thought  I'd  come  out  to  the 
Hedjaz  to  study  dialects  for  a  year  or  so.  It  would 
be  a  pleasant  change  after  the  milk  and  honey  of  a 
country  life.  I  don't  seem  to  have  got  killed,  and 
I  think  I've  liked  it  on  the  whole.  It's  been  excit- 
ing, and  I  know  more  about  bastard  Arabic  than 
any  European  living  now  that  .poor  Palmer's  dead, 
if  that's  any  satisfaction.  If  I  chose  to  go  home 
now,  I  could  pose  as  no  end  of  a  big  boss  in  that 
line.  The  only  thing  is,  I  can't  quite  make  my 
mind  up  whether  to  risk  it.  By  God,  yes,"  he  added, 
with  a  stare  out  into  the  baking  sunshine  beyond 
the  doorway,  "  oh,  yes,  I've  a  wife." 

Captain  Kettle  did  not  quite  follow  all  this,  so  he 
said  politely  and  vaguely  :  "  Well,  of  course,  you 
know  your  own  affairs  best,  sir."  Then  he  took  a 
long  and  steady  look  at  his  guest.  "You'll  excuse 
me,  sir,  but  your  name  seems  familiar.  I  wonder 
if  you'd  got  that  beard  and  some  of  your  hair  off 
whether  I  should  recognise  you." 

"  I  fancy  not." 

"  Cortolvin,"  the  little  man  mused.  "  I'm  sure 
I've  seen  that  name  before  somewhere." 


88  ADVENTURES   OF  CAPTAIN   KETTLE. 

The  Hadji  laughed.  "  I'm  afraid  that  neither  I 
nor  any  of  my  people  have  been  celebrated  enough 
to  have  come  into  public  notice,  Skipper ;  but  we 
had  a  namesake  some  years  back  who  was  famous. 
A  horse  named  Cortolvin  won  the  Grand  National 
in  '67.     That's  what  you'll  have  got  in  your  mind." 

Captain  Kettle  stiffened.  *'  I  beg  your  pardon, 
sir,"  he  said  with  acid  politeness,  "but  I  don't  see 
you've  earned  a  right  to  insult  me.  When  I  am  at 
sea  I  am  what  circumstances  make  me.  When  I 
am  ashore  in  England,  I  would  have  you  know  I  am 
a  different  person.  I  am  a  regular  attender  at  chapel, 
and  a  man  who  (outside  business  matters)  tries  to 
keep  entirely  straight.  In  England,  sir,  I  take  an 
interest  in  neither  pocket-picking,  horse-racing,  nor 
sacrilege  ;  and  I  have  it  on  the  word  of  a  minister  I 
sit  under,  that  there  is  very  little  to  choose  between 
the  three." 

Cortolvin  faced  the  situation  with  ready  tact. 
That  this  truculent  little  ruffian  who  could  flirt  with 
homicide  without  a  second  thought  should  so 
strongly  resent  the  imputation  of  being  interested 
.  in  a  horse  race  did  not  surprise  him  much-  He  had 
met  others  of  the  breed  before.  And  he  smoothed 
down  Captain  Kettle's  ruffled  feelings  with  the  easy 
glibness  of  a  man  of  the  world.  But  the  needs  of 
the  moment  were  again  recurring  to  him  with  vio- 
lence, and  he  broke  off  artistically  to  refer  to  them. 

"  Don't  you  think,"  he  said,  "  my  fellow  pilgrims 
will  bear  a  little  attention  now.  Skipper?  " 

"  I  will  be  off  and  make  up  a  bit  of  a  surprise 
packet  for  them,"  said  Kettle.  "  Excuse  me,  sir, 
for  two  minutes,  whilst  I  go  and  give  instructions  to 


THE   PILGRIM   SHIP.  89 

my  chief."     And  he  swung  on  his  pith  helmet  and 
left  the  chart-house. 

The  sun  climbed  higher  into  the  fleckless  sky, 
and  lolled  above  the  Saigon  in  insolent  cruelty.  The 
Red  Sea  heat  grew,  if  anything,  yet  more  dreadful. 
The  men's  veins  stood  out  in  ropes  upon  their 
streaming  bodies,  and  it  scorched  them  to  draw  in  a 
breath.  Drink,  too,  was  scarce.  The  Hedaz  is  a 
region  almost  waterless ;  the  desert  at  the  back 
drains  up  all  the  moisture,  and  the  Saigon  had  left 
Jeddah  with  her  tanks  only  half  filled.  She  had  to 
depend  upon  her  condenser,  and  this  was  small.  And 
in  the  tropics,  condenser-water  must  be  dealt  out  in  a 
sparing  ration,  or  a  dozen  hours  may  easily  see  a 
whole  ship's  company  down  with  raging  dysentery. 

The  Saigon  carried  a  spar-deck  amidships,  and  the 
pilgrims  were  grouped  in  two  bodies  forward  and 
aft  of  this  on  the  iron  plating  of  the  fore  and  main 
decks.  The  spar-deck  was  officially  reached  from 
these  lower  levels  by  a  couple  of  slender  iron  ladders, 
but  it  was  not  unscaleable  to  a  fairly  active  climber. 
There  was  an  alley-way  passing  beneath  the  spar- 
deck,  but  this  could  easily  be  closed  by  the  iron 
doors  in  the  two  bulk-heads,  which  fastened  inside 
with  heavy,  clamping  screws. 

The  chief  engineer  came  into  the  chart-house,  and 
hitched  up  his  grimy  pyjamas,  and  mopped  his  face 
with  a  wad  of  cotton  waste.  He  looked  meaningly 
at  the  whisky-bottle,  but  Kettle  ignored  his  glance. 

"  Well,  Mr.  McTodd  ?  "  said  he. 

"  I'm  a*  ready  for  the  pagans,  sir,  when  ye're  will* 
ing  to  gi*  the  worrd." 


90  ADVENTURES  OF  CAPTAIN   KETTLE. 

**  What  are  your  engines  like  now  ?  " 

"  A  wee  bitteeless  fit  for  the  scrap-heap  than  they 
were  a  dozen  hours  back,  but  no'  very  much  to  boast 
of."  Mr.  McTodd  spat  out  into  the  sunshine, 
"  They're  the  rottenist  engines  ever  I  fingered,"  said 
he,  "  and  that's  what  I  think  of  them.  A  man  ought 
to  have  double  my  pay  to  be  near  them.  They're 
just  heart-breaking." 

"  You  knew  she  wasn't  the  P.  and  O.  when  you 
signed  on." 

"  We're  neither  of  us  here,  Captain  Kettle,  be- 
cause we  were  offered  fatter  berths." 

Kettle  frowned.  "  I'll  trouble  you,  Mr.  McTodd, 
to  attend  to  the  matter  in  hand.  You  have  those 
steam  pipes  ranged  ?  " 

"Both  forrard  and  aft." 

"  Commanding  both  ladders  .'*  " 

"  Just  like  that." 

"  And  you've  plenty  of  steam  ?  " 

"  Ye  can  hear  it  burring  through  the  escape  this 
minute  if  ye'll  use  your  ears.  It's  been  vara  ex- 
hausting work  toiling  down  yonder  in  that  a'ful 
heat." 

"  Well,  Mr.  Cortolvin  here  assures  me  that  the 
niggers  will  begin  to  play  up  the  minute  we  get  un- 
der weigh,  so  you  see  we  know  where  we  are,  and 
must  be  ready  for  them.  I  shall  want  you  and  the 
second  engineer  on  deck  of  course,  so  you  must  ar- 
range for  one  of  your  crew  to  run  the  engines  till 
we've  got  the  business  settled." 

"  I've  a  greaser  down  yonder  who  can  open  the 
throttle,"  said  McTodd  gloomily,  "  but  he's  got  no 
notion  of  nursing  sick  engines  like  these,  and  as  like 


THE   PILGRIM    SHIP.  9I 

as  not  he'll  drive  them  off  their  bedplates  in  a  score 
of  revolutions.  Ye'd  better  let  me  keep  the  engine- 
room  myself,  Captain.  I'm  a  sick  man,  and  I'm  no' 
fit  for  fighting  with  my  throat  as  dry  as  it  is  now." 

Captain  Kettle  poured  out  a  liberal  two  fingers 
of  whisky  and  handed  it  across.  "  Now,  Mac,"  said 
he,  "  wet  your  neck,  and  let's  have  no  more  of  this 
nonsense.  You'll  have  to  fight  for  your  life  inside 
ten  minutes,  and  you'll  do  it  better  sober." 

The  engineer  eyed  the  whisky  and  poured  it 
slowly  down  its  appointed  path. 

"  Mon,"  he  said,  "  ye've  an  a'ful  poor  opinion  o' 
my  capaacity.  I'll  just  be  off  and  give  yon  coolie 
greaser  some  instructions,  and  get  my  side-arms,  and 
be  with  you  again  in  forty  clock-ticks." 

"  I  pity  the  nigger  that  comes  to  hand  grips  with 
McTodd,"  said  Kettle,  when  the  grimy  man  in  the 
grey  pyjamas  had  left  the  chart-house,  "  He's  an 
ugly  beggar  to  handle  when  he's  sober  as  he  is  now. 
We'll  get  ready  now,  sir,  if  you  please.  You  go  to 
the  after  end  of  the  bridge  deck  with  McTodd  and 
the  second  mate,  and  I'll  look  after  the  forrard  end 
with  the  old  mate  and  the  second  engineer.  When 
they  try  to  rush  the  ladder,  McTodd  will  give  them 
the  steam,  and  they'll  never  be  able  to  face  it.  All 
you  and  the  second  mate  hav'e  to  do  is  to  see  they 
don't  climb  up  over  the  rail." 

"  I  wish  it  could  be  avoided,'  said  Cortolvin  sadly. 
"  That  high-pressure  steam  will  scald  some  of  them 
horribly." 

"  It  will  do  more  than  that,"  said  Kettle.  "  It 
will  strip  the  meat  clean  off  their  bones." 

"  I  have  lived  amongst  *^hose  men  or  their  sort  for 


92  ADVENTURES   OF  CAPTAIN   KETTLE. 

two  solid  years,  and  many  of  them  have  shown  me 
kindnesses." 

"  You  should  have  thought  of  that,  sir,  before  you 
came  to  me  here  in  the  chart-house." 

"  I  did  think  of  it ;  but  I  couldn't  be  a  renegade 
to  my  colour;  and  so  I  came.  But,  Captain,  will  you 
let  me  speak  to  them  ?  Will  you  let  me  tell  them 
that  their  scheme  is  known  and  prepared  for? 
Will  you  let  me  explain  to  them  what  they  will 
have   to    face    if   they   start  an  outbreak  ? " 

Captain  Kettle  frowned.  "  You  will  understand 
that  I  am  not  frightened  of  the  beasts  ?"  he  said. 

"  I  quite  know  that,"  said  Cortolvin,  "  and  I  am 
sorry  to  spoil  a  fight.  But  it  is  their  lives  I  am 
begging  for." 

"Very  well,"  said  Kettle,  "you  can  fire  away.  I 
don't  speak  their  bat^  and  it's  as  well  they  should 
know  from  someone  what  they  have  to  look  forward 
to.  Here's  a  life-preserver  which  you  may  find  use. 
ful.  It's  the  only  weapon  I  have  to  offer  you.  My 
own  pistol  is  the  only  gun  we  have  in  the  ship." 

The  pair  of  them  went  outside  the  chart-house 
and  walked  to  the  head  of  the  forward  ladder.  A 
newly-fitted  steam  pipe,  with  the  joints  all  greasy 
with  white  lead,  lay  on  the  deck  planks,  and  the 
second  engineer  stood  beside  it  with  thumbs  in  his 
waist-strap.  On  the  deck  below,  the  pilgrims  no 
longer  squatted  on  their  carpets,  but  stood  together 
in  knots,  and  talked  excitedly.  Cortolvin  clapped 
his  hands,  and  the  sea  of  savage  faces  turned  towards 
him. 

There  were  representatives  in  that  mob  from 
half  the  Mahommedan  peoples  of  Northern  Africa. 


THE  PILGRIM   SHIP.  93 

There  were  lean  Arab  camel-breeders  of  the  desert, 
jet-black  farmers  from  the  Great  Lakes  and  the 
upper  Nile,  Hausas  from  the  Western  Soudan,  limp 
Fellaheen  from  Lower  Egypt,  an  Egba  who  had 
served  in  the  British  Police  Force  at  Lagos,  mer- 
chants from  the  back  of  the  Barbary  States,  workers 
in  metal  from  Sokoto,  and  weavers  from  Timbukhtu. 

They  were  not  all  holders  of  the  title  of  Hadji ; 
for  though  by  the  Mahommedan  law  every  male 
must  make  the  Mecca  pilgrimage  at  least  once  in  a 
lifetime,  unless  debarred  by  poverty  or  lameness, 
the  journey  may  be  done  by  deputy.  And  these 
deputies,  fierce,  truculent  ruffians,  who  had  lived 
their  lives  amongst  incessant  wars  and  travel,  were 
perhaps  the  most  dangerous  of  all  the  lot. 

The  black  men  listened  to  their  late  associate 
with  a  momentary  hush  of  surprise.  He  spoke  to 
them  in  fluent  Arabic.  He  did  not  appeal  to  their 
better  feelings :  he  knew  his  audience.  He  said  it 
was  written  that  if  they  tried  this  thing,  if  they  at- 
tempted to  capture  the  steamer,  they  should  surely 
fail;  that  all  things  were  prepared  to  give  them 
battle;  and  that  a  horrible  death  awaited  those  who 
persisted  in  their  design. 

And  then  he  tried  to  point  out  the  nature  of  the 
Saigon  s  defences,  but  there  he  failed.  It  is  ill  work 
to  explain  the  properties  of  high-pressure  steam  to 
savages.  A  murmur  rose  amongst  them  which  grew. 
They  let  out  their  voices,  and  roared  defiance.  And 
then  the  great  black  mass  of  them  rushed  for  the 
iron  ladder. 

Captain  Kettle  clapped  a  whistle  to  his  lips  and 
blew  it  shrilly. 


94  ADVENTURES   OF  CAPTAIN   KETTLE. 

"  Now  then,  Mr.  Cortolvin,"  he  cried,  "  away  with 
you  aft  to  help  McTodd.  These  cattle  here  want 
something  more  than  talk,  and  I'm  going  to  give  it 
them." 

In  answer  to  his  whistle,  steam  had  been  turned 
on  from  below.  The  second  engineer  unhitched  his 
thumbs  from  his  waistbelt,  took  a  lump  of  waste  in 
each  grimy  hand,  and  lifted  the  iron  pipe.  It  was 
well-jointed,  and  moved  easily,  and  he  turned  the 
nozzle  of  it  to  sweep  the  ladder.  In  that  baking 
air,  the  steam  did  not  condense  readily  ;  it  travelled 
three  yards  from  the  nozzle  of  the  pipe  before  it 
became  even  thinly  visible ;  and  it  impinged  upon 
the  black  naked  bodies,  and  burned  horribly  without 
being  seen. 

At  first  they  did  not  flinch.  With  a  dreadful 
valour  they  faced  the  torment,  and  fought  with  each 
other  to  be  first  upon  the  rungs,  and  then  when  those 
in  front  would  have  held  back,  the  mob  behind  pressed 
them  irresistibly  onwards.  In  a  moment  or  so  the 
first  rank  began  to  go  down  before  that  withering 
blast,  and  then  others  trod  on  them  and  fell  also,  till 
the  hill  of  writhing  black  humanity  grew  to  half  the 
height  of  the  iron  ladder. 

And  in  the  meantime  others  of  the  pilgrims  were 
trying  to  storm  the  bridge  deck  at  other  points; 
but  on  the  port  side,  the  grey-headed  old  man  fight- 
ing baresark  with  an  axe,  and  to  starboard,  Captain 
Kettle,  with  pistol  and  knuckleduster,  battled  like 
wild-cats  to  keep  the  sacred  planking  inviolate. 

What  was  going  on  at  the  after  end  of  the  Saigon 
they  could  not  tell.  From  behind  them  came  the 
roar  of  the  fighting  Hausa,  and  the  savage  war-cries 


THE   PILGRIM   SHIP.  95 

of  the  desert,  just  as  they  rose  up  from  before  their 
faces.  But  in  its  first  flush  the  fight  was  too  close 
for  any  man's  thoughts  to  wander  from  his  own  im- 
mediate adversaries. 

It  seemed,  however,  that  the  battle  was  over  first 
in  the  after  part  of  the  steamer,  and  whether  this 
was  because  the  attack  there  was  less  heartful,  or 
because  Mr.  McTodd's  artillery  was  more  terrible, 
cannot  now  be  known.  The  question  was  debated 
much  afterwards  without  coming  to  a  decision.  But, 
anyway,  by  the  time  Captain  Kettle's  adversaries 
had  ceased  to  rage  against  him,  Cortolvin  was  free 
to  come  and  stand  by  his  side  as  interpreter. 

The  wounded  lay  sprawling  and  writhing  about 
the  iron  decks ;  below  them  the  survivors — and 
scarcely  one  of  these  was  without  his  scald — hud- 
dled against  the  doors  of  the  forecastle  ;  and  the 
grimy  second  engineer  held  the  belching  steam 
pipe  upwards,  so  that  a  grey  pall  hung  between  the 
Saigon  and  the  sun. 

"  Now,  sir,"  said  Kettle,  "  kindly  translate  forme. 
Tell  those  animals  to  chuck  all  their  hardware  over 
the  side,  or  I'll  cook  the  whole  lot  of  them  like  so 
many  sausages." 

Cortolvin   lifted  up  his  voice  in  sonorous  Arabic. 

"  It  was  written,"  he  cried,  "  that  \^\&giaour  should 
prevail.  It  is  written  also  that  those  amongst  you 
having  wit  shall  cast  your  weapons  into  the  sea. 
It  is  written,  moreover,  that  those  others  of  you  who 
do  not  on  this  instant  disarm  shall  taste  again  of 
the  scorching  breath  of  Eblis," 

A  stream  of  weapons  leapt  up  through  the  air  and 
fell  into  the  swells  alongside  with  tinkling  splashes. 


p6  ADVENTURES  OF  CAPTAIN   KETTLE. 

"  It  would  be  a  weariness  to  guard  you,"  Cortol. 
vin  went  on.  "  Swear  by  the  beard  of  the  Prophet 
to  make  no  further  attempt  against  this  ship,  or 
we  shall  gaol  you  fast  in  death." 

A  forest  of  trembling  black  hands  shot  up  before 
him. 

"We  swear!  "  they  cried. 

"  Then  it  is  written  that  you  keep  your  vow,"  said 
Cortolvin.  "  God  is  great  !  See  now  to  your  sick." 
He  turned  to  Kettle  and  touched  his  ragged  turban, 
after  the  manner  of  an  officer  reporting.  "  The  mu- 
tiny is  ended,  sir,"  he  said. 

Captain  Kettle  swung  himself  lightly  on  to  the 
upper  bridge  and  telegraphed  "  Full  speed  ahead  " 
to  the  engine-room  ;  the  propeller  splashed  in  the 
oily  swells,  and  the  Saigon  gathered  way.  Sullen  and 
trembling,  the  pilgrims  began  to  tend  their  hurts,  and 
presently  McTodd  with  a  large  copper  kettle  in  his 
hand  descended  amongst  them,  and  distributed  oil 
and  surgical  advice. 

"  There  were  none  actually  killed  at  my  end,"  said 
Cortolvin. 

"  I  dropped  four,"  said  Kettle.  "  I  had  to.  It  was 
either  me  or  them.  And  my  old  mate  axed  half-a- 
dozen  before  they  let  him  be.  We'd  a  tight  time 
here  whilst  it  lasted." 

**  It  will  require  a  good  lunp  of  backshish  to  ex- 
plain it  all  satisfactorily  at  Kosseir." 

**  Oh,  I  can't  go  near  there  now  after  this.  No 
custom  house  for  me,  sir.  I  shall  just  run  in-shore 
a  dozen  miles  short  of  it,  and  put  the  beggars  on  the 
beach  in  my  boats,  and  let  them  get  into  Kosseir  as 
best  they  can.  I  suppose  you'll  come  back  with  me  ?  '* 


THE   PILGRIM   SHIP.  9/ 

"  I  suppose  so.  Anyway,  I  can't  go  on  with  them. 
It  is  the  first  time  any  of  them  have  discovered  I 
was  not  a  genuine  Arab." 

"  I  can  imagine,"  said  Kettle  drily,  "they'd  give 
you  a  lively  time,  if  they  h^d  you  to  themselves 
for  five  minutes.  The  Sons  of  the  Prophet  don't 
admire  having  Europeans  messing  about  the  Kaaba 
But  I  owe  you  something,  sir,  and  I  shall  be  happy  to 
go  out  of  my  way  to  serve  you.  I  will  drop  you 
at  Suakim,  or  at  Aden,  or  at  Perim,  where  I  am 
going  to  coal,  whichever  you  please." 

•'  But  what  about  yourself  ?  " 

"  Oh,  I  shall  be  all  right.  I  am  seldom  in  need  of 
a  nursery-maid,  sir." 

"  But  if  this  affair  gets  into  the  newspapers,  in- 
quiries will  be  made,  and  you'll  very  possibly  find 
yourself  in  an  ugly  hole." 

**It  won't  get  in  the  newspapers,"  said  Kettle 
thoughtfully.  "  The  pilgrims  can't  tell,  my  officers 
daren't  for  their  own  sakes,  and  you  leave  me  to 
see  my  coolies  don't.  Newspapers,"  he  repeated 
dreamily  ;  "  queer  the  hint  should  have  come  like 
that." 

"  What  hint  ?     What  are  you  talking  about?" 

"  I  remembered  then  where  I'd  seen  your  name, 
sir.  It  was  in  the  Times  of  India's  general  news 
column." 

'*  What  was  said  ?  " 

"  Well,  sir,  I  suppose  you'd  better  be  told.  But 
you  must  hold  up  for  a  hardish  knock.  Will  you 
come  into  the  chart-house  for  a  minute,  and  have 
a  peg  ?  " 

"  No,  get  along,  man,  get  along." 
7 


98  ADVENTURES   OF   CAPTAIN   KETTLE. 

"  I  think  it  was  about  your  wife,  sir.  Does  she 
hunt?" 

"  All  the  season." 

"  Then  it  will  be  her.  I  remember  now  it  said 
Richmond  in  Yorkshire,  and  the  name  was  Mrs. 
W.  H.  Cortolvin.     She's  broken  her  neck,  sir." 

Cortolvin  clutched  at  the  white  rail  of  the  bridge. 
"  My  God  !  "  he  cried,  "  dead  !  Julia  dead  !  Is  that 
all,  Captain  ?  " 

"  It  was  only  a  two-line  paragraph.  You'll  please 
understand  how  sorry  I  am  to  carry  such  sad  news, 
Mr.  Cortolvin." 

"  Thanks,  Skipper,  thanks."  He  turned  away  and 
walked  to  the  end  of  the  bridge  and  stayed  there  for 
a  while,  leaning  against  an  awning  stanchion,  and 
staring  at  the  baking  levels  of  the  Red  Sea  which 
were  slipping  past  the  Saigon  s  rusty  flanks.  And 
then  he  came  back  again  and  stood  at  Kettle's  side, 
looking  down  at  the  pilgrims  anointing  their  scalds 
below. 

"  I  have  learned  to  be  something  of  a  fatalist.  Cap- 
tain," he  said,  "  when  I  was  amongst  these  people. 
This  is  how  I  sum  the  situation.  It  was  written 
that  my  wife  should  die  whilst  I  was  away.  It  was 
written  also  that  I  should  live.  God  ordered  it  all. 
God  is  great." 

Captain  Kettle  gripped  his  hand  in  sympathy. 
"I'm  sorry  foryou,  sir;  believe  me,  I  am  truly  sorry. 
If  you  think  a  bit  of  poetry  about  the  occasion  would 
help  you  at  all,  just  you  say,  and  I'll  do  it.  I'm  in 
the  mood  for  poetry  now.  All  things  put  together, 
we've  been  through  a  pretty  heavy  time  during 
these  last  few  hours." 


THE   PILGRIM   SHIP.  99 

"  Thanks,  Skipper,  thanks,"  said  Cortolvin.  "  I 
know  you  mean  well.  And  now  if  you  don't  mind 
I'll  leave  you,  I  think  I'd  like  to  be  alone  for  a 
bit." 

"  You  do,  sir.  Go  and  lie  down  on  my  bunk.  1*11 
have  you  a  beautiful  elegy  written  by  the  time 
you're  back  on  deck  again.     It  will  comfort  you." 


CHAPTER  V. 

FORTUNES  ADRIFT. 

CORTOLVIN  came  out  under  the  bridge  deck  awn. 
ing  up  through  the  baking  heat  of  the  companion- 
way,  and  dropped  listlessly  into  a  deck  chair.  He 
was  dressed  in  slop-chest  pyjamas  of  a  vivid  pattern, 
and  had  a  newly-shaven  chin,  which  stood  out  re- 
freshingly white  against  the  rest  of  his  sun-darkened 
countenance. 

"  Well,"  said  Captain  Kettle,  as  he  shoved  across 
the  box  of  cheroots,  "  are  we  any  nearer  getting 
under  way  ?  " 

"  I  looked  in  at  the  engine-room  as  I  came  past," 
said  the  tall  man  with  a  laugh,  *'  and  the  Chief  had 
a  good  deal  to  say.  I  gathered  it  was  his  idea  that 
the  fellow  who  last  had  charge  of  those  engines  ought 
to  die  a  cruel  and  lingering  death." 

"  It's  a  sore  point  with  McTodd  when  she  breaks 
down.  But  did  he  say  how  long  it  would  be  before 
he  could  give  her  steam  again  ?  I'm  a  bit  anxious. 
The  glass  is  tumbling,  hand  over  fist  ;  and  what  with 
that,  and  this  heat,  there's  small  doubt  but  what 
we'll  have  a  tornado  clattering  about  our  ears  di- 
rectly. There's  the  shore  close  aboard,  as  you  can 
see  for  yourself,  and  if  the  wind  comes  away  any- 
where from  the  east'ard,  it'll  blow  this  old  steanv 
boat  half  way  into  the  middle  of  Africa  before  we 

lOO 


FORTUNES  ADRIFT.  lOI 

can  look  round  us.  It's  a  bad  season  just  now  for 
tornadoes." 

The  clattering  of  iron  boot-plates  made  itself  heard 
on  the  brass-bound  steps  of  the  companion-way. 
"  That'll  be  the  Chief  coming  to  answer  for  him- 
self," said  Cortolvin. 

Mr.  Neil  Angus  McTodd  always  advertised  his 
calling  in  the  attire  of  the  outward  man,  and  the  eye 
of  an  expert  could  tell  with  sureness  at  any  given 
moment  whether  Mr.  McTodd  was  in  employment 
or  not,  and,  if  so,  what  type  of  steamboat  he  was  on, 
what  was  his  official  position,  what  was  his  pay,  and 
what  was  the  last  bit  of  work  on  which  he  had  been 
employed. 

The  present  was  the  fourth  occasion  on  which  the 
Saigon  s  machinery  had  chosen  tobrealc  down  during 
Captain  Kettle's  two  months  of  command,  and  after 
his  herculean  efforts  in  making  repairs  with  insuf- 
ficient staff  and  materials,  Mr.  McTodd  was  un- 
pleasant both  to  look  upon  and  associate  with.  He 
was  attired  in  moist  black  boots,  grey  flannel  pyjama 
trousers  stuffed  into  his  socks,  a  weird  garment  of 
flannel  upon  his  upper  man,  a  clout  round  his  neck, 
and  a  peaked  cap  upon  his  grizzled  red  hair,  anointed 
with  years  of  spraying  oil.  His  elbows  and  his  fore- 
head shone  like  dull  mirrors  of  steel,  and  he  carried 
one  of  his  thumbs  wrapped  up  in  a  grimy,  crimson  rag. 
His  conversation  was  full  of  unnecessary  adjectives, 
and  he  was  inclined  to  take  a  cantankerous  view  of 
Uie  universe. 

"  They'd  disgrace  the  scrap-heap  of  any  decent 
yard,  would  the  things  they  miscall  engines  on  this 
rotten  tub,"  said  he,  by  way  of  preface. 


102  ADVENTURES  OF  CAPTAIN  KETTLE. 

"  They  are  holy  engines,  and  that's  a  fact,"  said 
Kettle.  "  How  long  can  you  guarantee  them  for 
this  time  ?  " 

The  engineer  mopped  his  neck  with  a  wad  of 
cotton  waste.  "  Ten  revolutions,  if  you  wish  me  to 
be  certain.     It's  a  verra  dry  ship,  this." 

*'  And  how  many  more  ?  We  shall  want  them. 
There's  a  tornado  coming  on." 

"  I'm  no*  anxious  to  perjure  mysel*.  Captain,  but 
they  might  run  on  for  a  full  minute,  or  they  might 
run  on  for  a  day.  There's  a  capreciousness  about 
the  rattle-traps  that  might  amuse  some  people,  but 
it  does  not  appeal  to  me.  I'm  in  fear  of  my  life 
every  minute  I  stand  on  the  foot-plates." 

"  I'd  not  have  taken  you  for  a  frightened  man." 

**  I'm  no*  that  as  a  usual  thing,  but  the  temperature 
of  yon  engine-room  varies  between  a  hundred  and 
twenty  and  hundred  and  thirty  of  the  Fahrenheit 
scale,  and  it's  destroying  to  the  nerves.  All  the 
aqueous  vapour  leaves  the  system,  and  I'm  verra 
badly  in  need  of  a  tonic.  Is  yon  whusky  in  the 
black  bottle.  Captain  ?  " 

"  Take  a  peg,  Mac." 

'*  I'll  just  have  a  sma'  three  fingers,  now  ye  men- 
tion it."  He  laid  the  thickest  part  of  his  knotty 
knuckles  against  the  side  of  the  tumbler,  and  poured 
out  some  half  a  gill  of  spirit.  "  Weel,"  said  he, 
"may  we  get  as  good  whusky  where  we  are  going 
to,"  and  enveloped  the  dose  with  a  dextrous  turn  of 
the  wrist.  After  which  ambiguous  toast,  he  wiped 
his  lips  with  the  cotton  waste,  and  took  himself 
off  again  to  the  baking  regions  below  ;  and  pre- 
sently a  dull  rumbling,  and  a  tremor  of  her  fabric, 


FORTUNES  ADRIFT.  IO3 

announced  that  the  Saigon  was  once  more  under 
way. 

The  little  steamer  had  coaled  at  Perim  Island,  in 
the  southern  mouth  of  the  Red  Sea,  had  come  out 
into  the  Indian  Ocean  through  the  straits  of  Bab-el- 
Mandeb,  had  rounded  Cape  Guardafui,  and  was  on 
her  way  down  to  Zanzibar  in  response  to  the  cabled 
orders  of  her  Parsee  owner  in  Bombay.  Cortolvin 
was  still  on  board  as  passenger.  His  excuse  was 
that  he  wanted  to  inspect  the  Island  and  City  of 
Zanzibar  before  returning  to  England  and  respecta- 
bility ;  his  real  reason  was  that  he  had  taken  a  fancy 
to  the  little  rufHan  of  a  skipper,  and  wished  to  see 
more  of  him. 

"  Cheerful  toast,  that  of  McTodd's,"  said  Cor- 
tolvin. 

"  Those  engines  are  enough  to  discourage  any  man," 
said  Kettle,  "  and  the  heat  down  there  would  sour 
the  temper  of  an  archangel." 

Cortolvin  loosened  a  couple  more  buttons  of  his 
pyjamas  and  bared  his  chest.  "  It's  hard  to  breathe 
even  here,  and  I  thought  I'd  learnt  what  heat  was 
out  in  those  Arabian  deserts.  There's  a  tornado 
coming  on,  that's  certain." 

"  It  will  clear  the  air,"  said  Kettle.  "  But  it  will 
be  a  sneezer  when  we  get  it.  Mr.  Murgatroyd  ! "  he 
call«^d. 

The  old,  grizzle-headed  mate  thrust  down  a  purple 
face  from  the  head  of  the  upper  bridge  ladder— 
•*  Aye,  aye  ?  " 

"  Get  all  the  awnings  off  her,"  the  shipmaster 
ordered  ;  "  put  extra  grips  on  the  boats,  and  see 


104  ADVENTURES   OF  CAPTAIN  KETTLE. 

everything  lashed  fast  that  a  steam  crane  could 
move.     We're  in  for  a  bad  breeze  directly." 

"  Aye,  aye,"  rumbled  the  mate,  and  clapped  a 
leaden  whistle  to  his  mouth,  and  blew  it  shrilly.  A 
minute  later  he  reported  :  "  A  big  steamer  lying-to 
just  a  point  or  two  off  the  starboard  bow.  Captain. 
I  haven't  seen  her  before  because  of  the  haze."  He 
examined  her  carefully  through  the  bridge  binocu- 
lars, and  gave  his  observations  with  heavy  delibera- 
tion. "  She's  square-rigged  forrard,  and  has  a  black 
funnel  with  a  red  band — no,  two  red  bands.  Seems 
to  me  like  one  of  the  German  mail-boats,  and  I 
should  say  she  was  broke  down." 

Captain  Kettle  rose  springily  from  his  deck  chair, 
and  swung  himself  onto  the  upper  deck  bridge. 
Cortolvin  followed. 

A  mist  of  heat  shut  the  sea  in  a  narrow  ring. 
Overhead  was  a  heavy,  purply  darkness,  impenetra- 
ble as  a  ceiling  of  brick.  The  only  light  that  crept 
in  came  from  the  mysterious  unseen  plain  of  the 
horizon.  From  every  point  of  the  compass  uneasy 
thunder  gave  forth  now  and  then  a  stifled  bellow, 
and,  though  the  lightning  splashes  never  showed, 
sudden  thinnings  of  the  gloom  would  hint  at  their 
nearness.  The  air  shimmered  and  danced  with  the 
baking  heat,  and  though  lurid  greys  and  pinks  pre- 
dominated, the  glow  which  filled  it  was  constantly 
changing  in  hue. 

The  scene  was  terrifying,  but  Kettle  regarded  it 
with  a  satisfied  smile.  The  one  commercial  prayer 
of  the  shipm  aster  is  to  meet  with  a  passenger  steamer 
at  sea,  broken  down,  and  requiring  a  tow ;  and  here 
was  one  of  the  plums  of  the  ocean  ready  to  his 


FORTUNES  ADRIFT.  IO5 

hand  and  anxious  to  be  plucked.  The  worse  the 
weather,  the  greater  would  be  the  salvage,  and  Cap- 
tain Kettle  could  have  hugged  himself  with  joy 
when  he  thought  of  the  tropical  hurricane's  near- 
ness. 

He  had  changed  the  Saigon  s  course  the  instant 
he  came  on  the  bridge,  and  had  pulled  the  syren 
string  and  hooted  cheerfully  into  the  throbbing  air 
to  announce  his  coming.  The  spectral  steamer  grew 
every  moment  more  clear,  and  presently  a  string  of 
barbaric  colours  jerked  up  to  the  wire  span  between 
her  masts.  There  was  no  breath  of  wind  to  make 
the  flags  blow  out ;  they  hung  in  dejected  cowls ; 
but  to  Kettle  they  read  like  the  page  of  an  open 
book. 

"  Urgent  signal  H.  B. ! "  he  cried,  and  clapped 
the  binocular  back  in  the  box,  and  snapped  down 
the  lid.  "  H.  B.,  Mr.  Cortolvin,  and  don't  you  for- 
get having  seen  it.  '  Want  immediate  assistance* 
that  means." 

"You  seem  to  know  it  by  heart,"  said  Cortolvin. 

"  There's  not  a  steamboat  officer  on  all  the  seas 
that  doesn't.  When  things  are  down  with  us,  we 
take  out  the  signal  book,  and  hunt  up  H.  B.  amongst 
the  urgent  signals,  and  tell  ourselves  that  some  day 
we  may  come  across  a  Cunarder  with  a  broken  tail- 
shaft,  and  be  able  to  give  up  the  sea  and  be  living 
politely  on  ^200  a  year  well  invested,  within  the 
fortnight.  It's  the  steamboat  officer's  dream,  sir, 
but  there's  few  of  us  it  ever  comes  true  for." 

"  Skipper,"  said  Cortolvin,  "  I  needn't  tell  you 
how  pleased  I'll  be  if  you  come  into  a  competence 
over  this  business.     In  the  meanwhile,  if  there's  any- 


I06  ADVENTURES  OF  CAPTAIN  KETTLE. 

thing  I  can  do,  from  coal-trimming  upwards,  I'm 
your  most  obedient  servant." 

"  I  thank  you,  sir,"  said  Kettle.  "And  if  you'd 
go  and  carry  the  news  to  the  chief,  I'll  be  obliged.  I 
know  he'll  say  his  engines  can't  hold  out.  Tell  him 
they  must.  Tell  him  to  use  up  anything  he  has 
sooner  than  get  another  breakdown.  Tell  him  to 
rip  up  his  soul  for  struts  and  backstays  if  he  thinks 
it'll  keep  them  running.  It's  the  one  chance  of  my 
life,  Mr.  Cortolvin,  and  the  one  chance  of  his,  and 
he's  got  to  know  it,  and  see  we  aren't  robbed  of 
what  is  put  before  us.  Show  him  where  the  siller 
comes  in,  sir,  and  then  stand  by  and  you'll  see  Mr. 
McTodd  work  miracles." 

Cortolvin  went  below,  and  Kettle  turned  to  the 
old  mate.  "  Mr.  Murgatroyd,"  said  he,  "  get  a  dozen 
hands  to  rouse  up  that  new  manilla  out  of  the  store. 
I  take  you  from  the  foredeck,  and  give  you  the 
afterdeck  to  yourself.  I'll  have  to  bargain  with  that 
fellow  over  there  before  we  do  anything,  and  there'll 
be  little  enough  time  left  after  we've  fixed  upon 
prices.  So  have  everything  ready  to  begin  to  tow. 
We'll  use  their  wire." 

**  Aye,  aye,"  said  the  mate.  "  But  it  won't  do  to 
tow  with  wire,  Captain,  through  what's  coming. 
There's  no  give  in  wire.  A  wire  hawser  would  jerk 
the  guts  out  of  her  in  fifteen  minutes." 

Kettle  tightened  his  lips.  "  Mr.  Murgatroyd," 
said  he,  "  I  am  not  a  blame'  fool.  Neither  do  I  want 
dictation  from  my  officers.  I  told  you  to  rouse  up 
the  manilla.  You  will  back  the  wire  with  a  double 
bridle  of  that." 

"  Aye,  aye,"  grunted  the  mate  ;  "  but  what  am  I  to 


FORTUNES   ADRIFT.  lO/ 

make  fast  to  ?  Them  bollards  aft  might  be  stepped 
in  putty  for  all  the  use  they  are.  They'd  not  tow 
a  row-boat  through  what's  coming.  I  believe 
they'd  draw  if  they'd  a  fishing  line  made  fast  to 
them." 

"  I  should  have  thought  you*d  been  long  enough 
at  sea  to  have  known  your  business  by  this  time," 
said  Kettle  unpleasantly.  "  D'ye  think  that  every 
steamboat  that  trades  is  a  bran  new  *  Harland  and 
Wolff'?" 

*'  Well,"  said  the  mate  sullenly,  "  I'm  waiting  to 
be  taught." 

"  Pass  the  manilla  round  the  coaming  of  the  after- 
hatch,  and  you  won't  come  and  tell  me  that's  drawn 
while  this  steamboat  stays  on  the  water-top." 

"  Aye,  aye,"  said  the  mate,  and  stepped  into  his 
slippers  and  shuffled  away.  Captain  Kettle  walked 
briskly  to  the  centre  of  the  upper  bridge  and  laid  a 
hand  on  the  telegraph.  He  gave  crisp  orders  to 
the  Lascar  at  the  wheel,  and  the  Saigon  moved  in 
perfect  obedience  to  his  will. 

Ahead  of  him  the  great  slate-coloured  liner  lay 
motionless  on  the  oily  sea.  Her  rail  was  peopled 
with  the  anxious  faces  of  passengers.  Busy  deck- 
hands were  stripping  away  the  awnings.  On  the 
high  upper  bridge  were  three  officers  in  peaked  caps 
and  trim  uniforms  of  white  drill,  talking  together 
anxiously. 

The  little  Saigon  curved  up  from  astern,  stopped 
her  engines,  and  then,  with  reversed  propeller, 
brought  up  dead,  so  that  the  bridges  of  the  two 
steamers  were  level,  and  not  more  than  twenty 
yards  apart.     It  was   smartly  done,  and  (as  Kettle 


I08  ADVENTURES  OF  CAPTAIN  KETTLE. 

had  intended)  the  Germans  noticed  it,  and  com. 
mented.     Then  began  the  barter  of  words. 

"  Howdy,  Captain,"  said  Kettle,  "  I  hope  it's  not 
a  funeral  you've  brought  up  for?  This  heat's  been 
very  great.  Has  it  knocked  over  one  of  your  pas- 
sengers ?  " 

A  large-bearded  man  made  reply  :  "  We  haf  seen 
a  slight  mishap  mit  der  machinery.  Captain.  My 
ingeneers  will  mend." 

*'  Oh,  that's  all  right.  Thought  it  might  be  worse. 
Well,  I  wish  you  luck.  Captain.  But  I'd  hurry  and 
get  steam  on  her  again,  if  I  were  you.  The  breeze 
may  come  away  any  minute  now,  and  you've  the 
shore  close  aboard,  and  you'll  be  on  it  if  you  don't 
get  your  steamboat  under  command  again  by  then, 
and  have  a  big  loss  of  life.  If  you  get  on  the 
beach,  it'll  surprise  me  if  you  don't  drown  all  hands." 

Captain  Kettle  put  a  hand  on  the  telegraph,  as 
though  to  ring  on  his  engines  again,  but  the  bearded 
German,  after  a  preliminary  stamp  of  passion,  held 
up  his  hand  for  further  parley.  But  for  the  mo- 
ment the  opportunity  of  speech  was  taken  from 
him.  The  passengers  were  either  English,  or  for  the 
most  part  understood  that  tongue  when  spoken ; 
and  they  had  drunk  in  every  word  that  was  said, 
as  Kettle  had  intended ;  and  now  they  surged  in 
a  writhing,  yelling  mob  at  the  foot  of  the  two 
bridge  ladders,  and  demanded  that  assistance  should 
be  hired,  let  that  cost  what  it  might. 

There  was  no  making  a  hail  carry  above  that 
frightened  uproar,  and  the  German  shipmaster  raved, 
and  explained,  and  reasoned  for  full  a  dozen  mo- 
ments  before   he   quelled   it.      Then,  panting,  he 


FORTUNES  ADRIFT.  IO9 

came  once  more  to  the  end  of  his  bridge,  and  ad- 
dressed the  other  steamer. 

"  Dose  bassengers  vas  nervous,"  said  he,  **  because 
dey  thought  dere  might  come  some  leetle  rain 
squall ;  so  I  ask  you  how  mooch  vould  you  take  my 
rope  and  tow  me  to  Aden  or  Perim  ?" 

"  Phew  !  "  said  Kettle.  "  Aden !  That's  wrong 
way  for  me,  Captain.  Red  Sea's  where  I've  come 
from,  and  my  owner  cabled  me  to  hurry  and  get  to 
Zanzibar." 

"  Veil,  how  mooch  ?  " 

"  We'll  say  ;^  100,000,  as  your  passengers  seem  so 
anxious." 

"  Hondred  tousand  teufels !  Herr  Gott,  I  haf  not 
Rhodes  on  der  sheep  !  " 

"  Well,  Captain,  take  the  offer  or  leave  it.  I'm 
not  a  tow-boat,  and  I'm  in  a  hurry  to  make  my 
passage.  If  you  keep  me  waiting  here  five  minutes 
longer,  it'll  cost  you  ;^i20,ooo  to  be  plucked  in 
anywhere." 

The  shipmaster  on  the  other  bridge  went  into  a 
frenzy  of  expostulation  ;  he  appealed  to  all  Captain 
Kettle's  better  feelings  ;  he  dared  him  to  do  his 
worst,  he  prayed  him  to  do  his  best.  But  Kettle 
gazed  upon  the  man's  gesticulating  arms,  and 
listened  to  his  frantic  oratory  unmoved.  He  lit  a 
cheroot,  and  leant  his  elbows  on  the  white  railing 
of  the  bridge,  and  did  not  reply  by  so  much  as  a 
single  word. 

When  the  other  halted  through  breathlessness, 
even  then  he  did  not  speak.  He  waved  his  hand 
towards  the  fearsome  heavens  with  their  lurid  lights, 
and  pointed  to  the  bumping  thunder,  which  made 


no  ADVENTURES  OF  CAPTAIN   KETTLE. 

both  steamers  vaguely  tremble,  and  he  let  those 
argue  for  him.  The  clamour  of  the  passengers  rose 
again  in  the  breathless,  baking  air,  and  the  Captain 
of  the  liner  had  to  yield.  He  threw  up  his  arms 
in  token  of  surrender,  and  a  hush  fell  upon  the 
scene  like  the  silence  of  death. 

"  My  gompany  shall  pay  you  hondred  tousand 
pound.  Captain,  und — you  haf  der  satisfaction  dot 
you  make  me  ruined  man." 

"  I  have  been  ruined  myself,"  said  Kettle,  "heaps 
of  times,  and  my  turn  for  the  other  thing  seems  to 
be  come  now.  I'll  run  down  closer  to  you,  Captain, 
or  do  you  bid  your  hands  heave  me  a  line  from  the 
fo'c's'le  head  as  I  come  past.  You've  cut  it  pretty 
fine.  You've  no  time  left  to  get  a  boat  in  the  water. 
The  wind  may  come  away  any  moment  now. 

Captain  Kettle  was  changing  into  another  man. 
All  the  insoucia7ice  had  gone  from  him.  He  gave 
his  orders  with  crispness  and  decision,  and  the  mates 
and  the  Lascars  j  umped  to  obey  them.  The  horrible 
danger  that  was  to  come  lay  as  an  open  advertise- 
ment, and  they  knew  that  their  only  way  to  pass 
safely  through  it — and  even  then  the  chances  were 
slim — was  to  obey  the  man  who  commanded  them 
to  the  uttermost  tittle. 

The  connection  between  the  steamers  had  been 
made,  the  snaky  steel-wire  hawser  had  been  hauled 
in  through  a  stern  fair-lead  by  the  Saigon  s  winch, 
and  the  old  mate  stood  ready  with  the  shackle  which 
would  link  it  on  to  the  manilla. 

The  heavens  yielded  up  an  overture  like  the  echo 
of  a  Titan's  groan.  "  Hurry  there,  you  slow-footed 
dogs  !  "  came  Kettle's  voice  from  the  bridge. 


FORTUNES  ADRIFT.  Ill 

The  Lascars  brought  up  the  eye  of  the  hawser, 
and  Murgatroyd  threaded  it  on  the  pin  of  the 
shackle.  Then  he  cried,  "  All  fast,"  and  picked  up 
a  spike,  and  screwed  home  the  pin  in  its  socket. 
Already  the  engines  were  on  the  move  again,  and 
the  Saigon  was  steaming  ahead  on  the  tow-line.  It 
was  a  time  for  hurry. 

The  air  thickened  and  grew  for  the  moment  if 
anything  more  hot,  and  the  tornado  raced  down 
upon  them  as  a  black  wall  stretching  far  across  the 
sea,  with  white  water  gleaming  and  churning  at  its 
foot.  It  hit  the  steamers  like  a  solid  avalanche,  and 
the  spindrift  in  it  cut  the  faces  of  the  men  who  tried 
to  withstand  it,  as  though  whips  had  lashed  them. 

The  coolie  quarter-master  clung  on  to  the  Saigon's 
wheel-spokes,  a  mere  wisp  of  limp  humanity,  inca- 
pable of  steering  or  of  doing  anything  else  that  re- 
quired a  modicum  of  rational  thought.  The  little 
steamer  fell  away  before  the  blast  like  a  shaving  in 
a  dry  street ;  the  tonnage  of  the  tornado  heeled  her 
till  her  lee-scuppers  spouted  green  water  in-board  ; 
and  she  might  well  have  been  overturned  at  the  very 
outset.  But  Kettle  beat  the  helpless  Lascar  from 
his  hold,  and  spoked  the  wheel  hard  down  ;  and  the 
engines,  working  strongly,  brought  her  round  again 
in  a  wallowing  circle  to  face  the  torrent  of  hurricane. 

She  took  five  minutes  to  make  that  recovery,  and 
when  she  was  steaming  on  again,  head  to  the  thun- 
derous gusts,  the  tale  of  what  she  had  endured  was 
written  in  easy  lettering.  On  both  fore  and  main 
decks  the  bulwarks  were  gone  level  with  the  cover- 
ing boards :  the  raffle  of  crates,  harness  casks,  gang 
planks,  and  so  on,  that  a  small  trader  carries  in  view 


112  ADVENTURES    OF   CAPTAIN   KETTLE. 

to  the  sky,  had  departed  beyond  the  ken  of  man ; 
and,  indeed,  those  lower  decks  were  scoured  clean  to 
the  naked  rusted  iron.  The  port  life-boat  hung  stove 
from  bent  davits,  and  three  of  the  coolie  crew  had 
been  swept  from  life  into  the  grip  of  the  eternal 
sea. 

Cortolvin  fought  his  way  up  on  to  the  upper  bridge 
step  by  step  against  the  frantic  beating  of  the  wind, 
and,  without  being  bidden,  relieved  at  the  lee  spokes 
of  the  wheel.  Captain  Kettle  nodded  his  thanks. 
The  Saigon  had  no  steam  steering  gear,  and  in  some 
of  the  heavier  squalls  the  wheel  threatened  to  take 
charge,  and  pitch  the  little  shipmaster  clean  over 
the  spokes. 

Amid  the  bellowing  roar  of  the  tornado,  speech, 
of  course,  was  impossible,  and  vision,  too,  was  limited. 
No  human  eye  could  look  into  the  wind,  and  even 
to  let  it  strike  the  face  was  a  torture.  The  sea  did 
not  get  up.  The  crest  of  any  wave  which  tried  to 
rise  was  cut  off  remorselessly  by  the  knives  of  the 
hurricane,  and  spread  as  a  stinging  mist  throughout 
the  wind.  It  was  hard  indeed  to  tell  where  ocean 
ceased  and  air  began.  The  whole  sea  was  spread  in  a 
blurr  of  white  and  green. 

The  big  helpless  liner  astern  plucked  savagely  at 
the  Saigon  s  tail,  and  the  pair  of  them  were  moving 
coast-wards  with  speed.  Left  to  herself,  and  steam- 
ing full-speed  into  the  gale,  the  little  Saigon  would 
have  been  able  to  maintain  her  position,  neither 
losing  ground  nor  gaining  any.  With  the  heavy  tow 
in  charge,  she  was  being  driven  towards  the  roaring 
surf  of  the  African  beach  with  perilous  speed. 

It  was  possible  to  see  dimly  down  the  wind,  and 


FORTUNES  ADRIFT.  II3 

when  Cortolvin  turned  his  face  away  from  the  sting- 
ing blast  of  the  tornado,  he  could  understand  with 
clearness  their  exact  position.  Close  astern  was  the 
plunging  German  liner,  with  her  decks  stripped  and 
deserted,  and  only  the  bridge  officers  exposed.  Be- 
yond was  cotton-white  sea  ;  and  beyond  again  were 
great  leaping  fountains  of  whiteness  where  the  tor- 
tured ocean  roared  against  the  yellow  beach. 

Thirty  minutes  passed,  each  second  of  them 
brimmed  with  frenzied  struggle  for  both  man  and 
machinery.  The  tornado  raged,  and  boomed,  and 
roared,  and  the  backward  drift  was  a  thing  which 
could  be  measured  with  the  eye. 

Then  the  old  mate  heaved  himself  up  the  bridge 
ladder  by  laborious  inches.  His  clothes  were  whip- 
ping from  him  in  tattered  ribbons  ;  his  hat  was  gone ; 
and  the  grizzled  hair  stood  out  from  the  back  of  his 
head  like  the  bristles  of  a  broom.  He  clawed  his 
way  along  the  rail,  and  put  his  great  red  face  close 
to  Kettle's  ear. 

"  We  can't  hold  her,"  he  roared.  "  She's  taking 
us  ashore.  We  shall  be  there  in  a  dozen  minutes, 
and  then  it  will  be  '  Jones*  for  the  lot  of  us." 

Captain  Kettle  glared,  but  made  no  articulate 
reply.  If  he  could  have  spared  a  hand  from  the 
wheelspokes,  it  is  probable  that  Mr.  Murgatroyd 
would  have  felt  the  weight  of  it. 

The  old  fellow  bawled  at  him  again.  "  The  hands 
know  it  as  well  as  me,  and  they  say  they're  not  going 
to  be  drowned  for  anybody.  They  say  they're  going 
to  cast  off  the  hawser." 

This  time   Captain  Kettle  yelled  back  a  reply. 

"  You  thing !  "  he  cried.     "  You  putty  man,  get  back 
8 


114  ADVENTURES  OF  CAPTAIN  KETTLE. 

to  your  post !  If  you  want  to  live,  keep  those 
niggers'  fingers  off  the  shackle.  By  James,  if  that 
tow  is  cast  off,  I'll  turn  the  Saigon  for  the  beach, 
and  drown  the  whole  crew  of  you  inside  three 
minutes.  By  James !  yes,  and  you  know  me,  and 
you  know  I'll  do  it  too.  You  ham-faced  jelly-fish, 
away  aft  with  you,  and  save  your  blooming  life  !  " 

The  man  winced  under  the  little  captain's  tongue, 
and  went  away,  and  Captain  Kettle  looked  across 
the  wheel  at  his  assistant. 

Cortolvin  shrugged  his  shoulders,  and  glanced 
backward  at  the  beach,  and  nodded.  Kettle  leant 
across  and  shouted : 

"  I  know  it,  sir,  as  well  as  you  do.  I  know  it  as 
well  as  they  do.  But  I've  got  a  fortune  in  tow  yon- 
der, and  I'd  rather  die  than  set  it  adrift.  It  isn't  one 
fortune,  either;  it's  a  dozen  fortunes,  and  I  have 
just  got  to  grab  one  of  them.  I'm  a  married  man, 
sir,  with  a  family,  and  I've  known  what  it  was  to 
watch  and  see  'em  hungry.  You'll  stand  by  me,  Mr. 
Cortolvin?" 

"  It  seems  I  promised.  You  know  I've  been  long 
enough  with  Mohammedans,  Skipper,  to  be  some- 
what a  fatalist.  So  I  say :  '  God  is  great !  and  our 
fates  are  written  on  our  foreheads,  and  no  man  can 
change  by  an  inch  the  path  which  it  is  foreordained 
he  should  tread.'  But  they  are  queer  fates,  some  of 
them.  I  went  away  from  England  because  of  my 
wife ;  I  step  out  of  the  middle  of  Arabia,  and  stumble 
across  you,  and  hear  that  she  is  dead  ;  I  look  forward 
to  going  home  and  living  a  peaceful  country  life ;  and 
now  it  appears  I'm  to  be  drowned  obscurely,  out  of 
the   touch   of  newspapers.     However,   I'll  be  con* 


FORTUNES  ADRIFT.  II5 

sistent,  I  won't  grumble,  and  you  may  hear  me  say 
it  aloud  :  '  La  Allah  illak  Allah  /  '  " 

Captain  Kettle  made  no  reply.  Through  the 
infernal  uproar  of  the  tornado  he  did  not  hear 
much  of  what  was  said,  and  part  of  what  did  reach 
his  ears  was  beyond  his  comprehension.  Besides, 
his  mind  was,  not  unnaturally,  occupied  with  more 
selfish  considerations. 

Astern  of  him,  in  the  German  liner,  were  some 
thousand  passengers,  who  were  all  assets  for  sal- 
vage. The  detail  of  human  life  did  not  enter  much 
into  his  calculations.  He  had  been  brought  up  in  a 
school  where  life  is  cheap,  and  not  so  pleasant  and 
savory  a  thing  that  it  is  set  much  store  on.  The 
passengers  were  part  of  the  ship,  just  as  much  as 
were  her  engines,  and  the  bullion  which  he  hoped 
she  carried. 

The  company  which  owned  her  was  responsible 
for  all ;  their  credit  would  be  damaged  if  all  or  a 
part  of  her  was  lost ;  and  he,  Owen  Kettle,  would 
reap  a  proportionate  reward  if  he  could  drag  her 
into  any  civilized  port.  And  when  he  thought  of 
the  roaring  beach  so  terribly  close  astern,  he  bit 
his  beard  in  an  agony  of  apprehension  lest  the  fates 
should  steal  this  fortune  from  him. 

And,  meanwhile,  the  line  of  surf  was  growing  ever 
nearer.  So  close,  indeed,  were  they  to  the  hateful 
shore  that,  when  for  a  moment  the  fountains  of  white 
water  subsided  where  the  breakers  raged  upon  the 
beach,  they  could  see  dimly  beyond  through  the 
sea  smoke,  palm  trees,  and  ceibas  and  great  silk 
cotton-woods,  whipping  and  crashing  before  the  in« 
sane  blast  of  the  tornado. 


Il6  ADVENTURES   OF  CAPTAIN   KETTLE. 

All  hands  on  the  Saigon's  deck  had  many  minutes 
before  given  themselves  up  for  as  good  as  dead. 
Their  only  chance  of  salvation  lay  in  casting  off 
the  tow-rope,  and  no  one  dared  touch  the  linking 
shackle.  They  quite  knew  that  their  savage  little 
skipper  would  fulfil  his  threat  if  they  disobeyed  his 
orders.  Indeed,  old  purple-faced  Murgatroyd  him- 
self sat  on  the  hatch-coaming  with  an  opened  clasp 
knife,  and  vowed  death  on  any  one  who  tampered 
with  either  shackle  or  manilla.  The  clumsy  mate 
had  swallowed  rough  words  once,  but  he  preferred 
drowning  to  living  on  and  hearing  Captain  Kettle 
address  him  as  coward. 

The  shore  lay  steep-to,  but  the  back-wash  creamed 
far  out  into  the  sea.  Already  the  stern  of  the  Ger- 
man liner  was  plunging  in  the  whitened  water,  and 
destruction  seemed  a  question  of  seconds. 

Then  a  strange  thing  happend.  It  seemed  as 
though  ^he  Finger  of  God  had  touched  the  wind ; 
it  abated  by  visible  graduations,  and  the  drift  of 
the  steamer  grew  more  slow  ;  it  eased  to  a  mere  gale, 
and  they  held  their  place  on  the  lip  of  the  boiling 
surf ;  and  then  with  a  gasp  it  sank  into  quietude, 
and  a  great  oily  swell  rose  up  as  if  by  magic  from 
the  bowels  of  the  deep,  and  the  little  Saigon  forged 
ahead  and  drew  the  helpless  passenger  liner  away 
from  the  perilous  beach.  Those  tropical  hurricanes 
of  the  Eastern  Seas  progress  in  circles,  and  this  one 
had  spurned  them  from  its  clutch,  and  let  them 
float  on  a  charmed  ring  of  calm. 

Cortolvin  bowed  over  the  wheel  in  silent  thank- 
fulness, but  the  shipmaster  rejoiced  aloud. 

"How's  that,  umpire  ?  "said  he.    "  By  James,  wasn't 


FORTUNES  ADRIFT.  11/ 

it  worth  hanging  on  for  ?  I've  got  a  wife,  sir,  and 
kids,  and  I'm  remembering  this  moment  that  they'll 
always  have  full  bellies  from  now  onwards,  and  good 
clothes  and  no  more  cheap  lodgings,  but  a  decent 
house  semi-detached,  and  money  to  plank  down  in 
the  plate  when  they  go  to  chapel  on  Sundays.  The 
skipper  of  that  Dutchman  will  be  ruined  over  this 
last  half-hour's  job,  but  I  can't  help  that.  It's  my- 
self I  have  to  think  of  first  ;  one  has  to  in  this  world, 
or  no  one  else  will ;  and,  Mr.  Cortolvin,  I'm  a  made 
man.     Thanks  to  McTodd " 

From  below  there  came  a  sudden  whirr  of  machin- 
ery, as  though  the  engines  had  momentarily  gone 
mad,  and  then  a  bumping  and  a  banging  which  jarred 
every  plate  of  the  Saigon  s  fabric,  and  then  a  silence, 
broken  only  by  the  thin  distant  scream  of  a  hurt 
man.  Presently  the  boom  of  steam  broke  out  from 
the  escape-pipe  beside  the  funnel,  and  a  minute 
later  the  chief  engineer  made  his  way  leisurely  up 
on  to  the  bridge. 

He  was  bleeding  from  a  cut  on  the  forehead  and 
another  gash  showed  red  amongst  the  grime  on  his 
stubby  cheek.  He  was  shredding  tobacco  with  a 
clasp-knife  as  he  walked,  and  seemed  from  his  man- 
ner to  be  a  man  quite  divorced  from  all  responsible 
occupations.  He  halted  a  minute  at  the  head  of 
the  bridge  ladder,  replaced  the  tobacco  cake  in  the 
pocket  of  his  pyjama  coat,  and  rolled  up  the  shred- 
dings  in  the  palms  of  his  crackled  hands.  Then  he 
filled  a  short  briar  pipe,  lit  it,  and  surveyed  the  avail- 
able universe. 

"  Yon'll  be  the  tornado,  'way  ahead  there,  I'm 
thinking  ?  "  said  he. 


Il8  ADVENTURES   OF  CAPTAIN  KETTLE. 

"  Are  those  blame*  engines  broke  down  again?** 
asked  Kettle  sharply. 

"  Aye,  ye  may  put  it  theyVe  broke  down." 

"  Then  away  with  you  below  again,  Mr.  McTodd, 
and  get  them  running  again.  You  may  smoke  when 
we  bring  up  in  Aden." 

McTodd  puffed  twice  more  at  his  pipe,  and  spat 
on  the  wheel  grating. 

"  By  James  !  "  said  Kettle,  "  do  you  hear    me?  " 

"  My  lugs  are  a  bit  muzzy,  but  I  can  hear  ye 
for  a*  that,  captain.  Only  thing  is,  I  can't  do  as 
you'd  like." 

Captain  Kettle  stiffened  ominously.  "  Mr.  Mc- 
Todd," he  said,  "  if  you  force  me  to  take  you  in  hand, 
and  show  you  how  to  set  about  your  work,  you'll 
regret  it." 

"  Man,"  said  the  engineer,  "  I  can  do  some  kind 
of  impossibeelities.  Ye' ve  seen  me  do  them.  Ye've 
seen  me  keep  them  palsied  rattle-traps  running  all 
through  that  blow.  But  if  ye  ask  me  to  make  a  new 
propeller  out  of  rod  iron  and  packing  cases,  I'll  have 
to  tell  you  that  yon  kind  of  meeracle's  beyond  me." 

"My  great  James!"  said  Kettle,  "you  don't 
mean  to  tell  me  the  propeller's  gone?" 

"  Either  that,  or  else  all  the  blades  have  stripped 
off  the  boss.  If  ye'd  been  below  on  my  foot-plates, 
ye'd  have  kenned  it  fine.  When  it  went,  those  puir 
engines  raced  like  an  auld  cab-horse  tryin'  to  gallop, 
and  they  just  got  tied  in  knots,  and  tumbled  down, 
and  sprawled  fifteen  ways  at  once.  I  was  on  the 
platform,  oiling,  when  they  jumped,  and  that  nigger 
second  of  mine  tried  to  get  at  the  throttle  to  close 
her  down." 


FORTUNES   ADRIFT.  1 19 

"  Well,  get  on  man,  get." 

"  Weel,  he  didn't,  that's  all ;  he's  lying  in  the  low 
pressure  crank  pit  this  minute,  and  the  top  of  his 
skuiril  be  to  seek  somewhere  by  the  ash  lift. 
Mon,  I  tell  ye,  yon  second  o*  mine's  an  uncanny 
sight.  So  I  had  to  do  his  work  for  him,  and  then  I 
blew  off  my  boilers,  and  came  up  here. 

"  It  would  have  been  verra  comforting  to  my  pro- 
fessional conscience  if  I  could  have  steamed  her  into 
Aden.  But  I'm  no'  as  sorry  as  I  might  be  for  what's 
happened.  I  have  it  in  mind  that  yon  Parsee 
owner  of  ours  in  Bombay'U  lose  siller  over  this 
breakdown,  and  I  want  that  beggar  punishing  for  all 
the  work  he's  given  me  to  do  on  a  small  wage.  Mr. 
Cortolvin,  ha'  ye  a  match  ?  " 

A  hail  came  from  the  liner  astern. 

"  Saigon  ahoy  !     Keep  our  hawser  taut." 

"You're  all  right  for  the  present,"  Kettle  shouted 
back. 

"  Der  vind  might  return  onless  you  get  in  the 
middle  of  him," 

"  Then  if  it  does,"  retorted  Kettle,  "  you'd  better 
tell  your  passengers  to  say  their  prayers.  You'll 
get  no  further  help  from  me.  I'm  broken  down 
myself.  Lost  my  propeller,  if  you  want  to 
Icnow." 

"  Herr  lieber  Goit !  " 

"  I  shouldn't  swear  if  I  were  you,"  said  Kettle. 
^*  If  the  breeze  comes  this  way  again,  you'll  be  toe- 
ing the  mark  in  the  other  place  inside  five  minutes." 
He  turned  and  gave  an  order :  "  After  deck,  there. 
Mr.  Murgatroyd,you  may  cast  off  their  rope  ;  we've 
done  towing." 


I20  ADVENTURES   OF   CAPTAIN   KETTLE. 

Now  after  this,  a  variety  of  things  might  have 
happened.  Amongst  them  it  was  quite  possible 
that  both  steamers,  and  all  in  them,  might  have  been 
spewed  up  as  battered  refuse  high  upon  the  African 
beach.  But  as  Providence  ordered  it,  the  tornado 
circled  down  on  them  no  more  ;  a  light  air  came  off 
the  shore  which  filled  their  scanty  canvas,  and  gave 
them  just  steerage  way ;  and  they  rode  over  the 
swells  in  company,  as  dry  as  a  pair  of  bridge-pon- 
toons, and  about  as  helpless.  All  immediate  danger 
was  swept  away  ;  nothing  but  another  steamer  could 
relieve  them  ;  and  in  the  meantime  it  was  a  time  for 
philosophy. 

Captain  Kettle  did  not  grumble  ;  his  fortune  was 
once  more  adrift  and  beyond  his  grasp  ;  the  Parsee 
in  Bombay  would  for  a  certainty  dismiss  him  from 
employment ;  and  Mrs.  Kettle  and  her  family  must 
continue  to  drag  along  on  such  scanty  doles  as  he 
could  contrive  to  send  them.  All  these  were  dis- 
tressing thoughts,  but  they  were  things  not  to  be 
remedied  ;  and  he  took  down  the  accordion  and 
made  sweet  music,  which  spread  far  over  the  moving 
plains  of  ocean. 

But  Mr.  McTodd  had  visions  of  more  immediate 
profit.  He  washed  with  soap  until  his  face  was 
brilliant,  put  on  a  full  suit  of  slop-chest  serge,  took 
boat,  and  rowed  over  to  the  rolling  German  liner. 
It  was  midnight  when  he  returned,  affluent  in  pocket 
and  rather  deep  in  liquor.  He  went  into  the  chart- 
house,  without  invitation,  smiled  benignly,  and  took 
a  camp  stool. 

"  They  thought  they  would  get  me  down  into  the 
mess-room  over  yonder,"  said  he,  "  and  I'll  no'  deny 


FORTUNES   ADRIFT.  121 

it  was  a  temptation.  I  could  ha'  telled  those  Dutch 
engineers  a  thing  or  two.  But  I'm  a*  for  business 
first  when  there  is  siller  ahead.  So  I  went  aft  to 
the  saloon.  They  were  at  dinner,  and  there  were 
puir  appetites  among  them.  But  someone  spied 
me  standing  by  the  door  and  lugged  me  into  a  seat, 
and  gave  me  meat  and  drink — champagne,  no  less! 
— and  set  me  on  to  talk.  Lord !  once  I  got  my 
tongue  wagging,  you  should  have  seen  them. 
There  was  no  more  eating  done.  They  wanted  to 
know  how  near  death  they'd  been,  and  I  telled'em ; 
and  there  was  the  Old  Man  and  all  the  brass-edged 
officers  at  the  ends  of  the  tables  fit  to  eat  me  for 
giving  the  yarn  away.  But  a  {hie)  fat  lot  I  cared. 
I  set  on  the  music,  and  they  sent  round  the  hat. 
Losh  !  There  was  twenty-four  pound  English  when 
they  handed  it  over  to  me.  Skipper,  ye  should  go 
and  try  it  for  yourself." 

"  Mr.  McTodd,"  said  the  little  sailor,  "  I  am  not 
a  dashed  mendicant ! " 

The  engineer  stared  with  a  boiled  eye,  and  swayed 
on  his  camp-stool.  He  had  not  quite  grasped  the 
remark. 

"  I'm  Scotch  mysel' !  "  exclaimed  he,  at  length. 

"  Same  thing,"  said  Kettle  ;  "  I'm  neither.  I'm 
a  common,  low-down  Englishman,  with  the  pride  of 
the  Prince  of  Wales,  and  a  darned  ugly  tongue;  and 
don't  you  forget  it  either." 

McTodd  pulled  a  charred  cigar  stump  from  his 
waistcoat  pocket  and  lit  it  with  care.  He  nodded 
to  the  accordion. 

"  Go  on  with  your  noise,"  said  he. 

Captain  Kettle's  fingers  began  to  twitch  suggcs* 


122  ADVENTURES   OF  CAPTAIN   KETTLE. 

tively ;  and  Cortolvin,  in  order  to  keep  the  peace, 
offered  to  escort  McTodd  to  his  room. 

"  I  thank  ye,"  said  the  engineer :  "  it's  the  cli- 
mate. I  have  maleria  in  the  system,  and  it  stays 
there  in  spite  of  all  that  drugs  can  do,  and  affects 
the  perambulatory  muscles  of  the  lower  extremities. 
Speakin'  of  which,  ye'll  na  doot  have  seen  for  your- 
sel' " 

"  Oh,  you'd  better  come  along  to  bed,"  said  Cor- 
tolvin. 

"  Bide  a  wee,  sonny,"  said  the  man  in  the  blue 
serge,  solemnly.  "  There's  a  thought  come  to  me 
that  I've  a  message  to  give.  Do  ye  ken  anybody 
called  Calvert  ?  " 

"  Archie  Calvert,  by  any  chance  ?  " 

"  *  Erchie'  was  the  name  he  gave.  He  said  he 
kenned  ye  weel." 

"  We  were  at  Cambridge  together." 

"  Cambridge,  were  ye  ?  Weel,  I  should  have 
been  a  D.D.  of  A-berdeen  mysel'  if  I'd  done  as  my 
father  wished.  He  was  Free  Kirk  meenister  of  Bal- 
lindrochater " 

"  Yes,  but  about  Calvert  ?  " 

"  Ou  ay,  Calvert !  Erchie  Calvert,  as  ye  say. 
Weel,  I  said  we'd  you  aboard,  and  this  Calvert — 
Erchie  Calvert — said  he'd  news  for  you  about  your 
wife." 

'*  All  right,  never  mind  that  now.  She's  dead,  I 
know,  poor  woman.  Let  me  help  you  down  to 
your  bunk." 

"  Dinna  be  so  offensive,  man,  and  bide  a  wee  to 
hear  ma  news.  Ye're  no  a  widow  after  all — widow- 
fiCian  that  is.     Your  guid  wife  didna  dee  as  ye  think. 


FORTUNES  ADRIFT.  1 23 

She'd  a  fall  from  a  horse,  which'll  probably  teach 
her  to  leave  horse-riding  alone  to  men  in  the  future ; 
and  it  got  in  the  papers  she  was  killed  ;  but  it  seems 
a  shaking  was  all  she  earned.  And,  talking  of  horses 
now,  when  I  was  a  bairn  in  Ballindrochater " 

Cortolvin  shook  him  savagely  by  the  arm. 

"My  God!"  he  cried;  "do  you  mean  to  say 
she's  not  dead  ?  " 

"  Aren't  I  telling  you  ?  " 

Cortolvin  passed  a  hand  wearily  over  his  eyes. 
"And  a  minute  ago,"  he  whispered,  "  I  thought  I 
was  going  home."  His  hand  dropped  limply  to  his 
side,  and  his  head  slid  to  the  chart-house  deck  in  a 
dead  faint. 

McTodd  swayed  on  the  camp-stool  and  regarded 
him  with  a  puzzled  eye.  "  Losh  1 "  he  said,  "  here's 
him  drunk  as  well  as  me.  Two  of  us,  and  I  never 
kenned  it.  It's  a  sad,  immoral  world,  skipper. 
Verra  sad,  skipper,  I  say.  Here's  Mr.  Cortolvin 
been — Oh  Lord,  and  he  isn't  listening  either." 

Captain  Kettle  had  gone  out  of  the  chart-house. 
The  thud  of  a  propeller  had  fallen  upon  his  ear,  and 
he  leant  over  the  Saigon  s  rail  and  sadly  watched  a 
triangle  of  lights  draw  up  through  the  cool,  purple 
night.  A  cargo  steamer  freighted  with  rails  for  the 
Beira  railway  was  coming  gleefully  towards  them 
from  out  of  the  north,  to  pick  up  the  rich  gleanings 
which  the  ocean  offered. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

THE   ESCAPE. 

"You've  struck  the  wrong  man,"  said  Captain 
Kettle.  "  I'm  most  kinds  of  idiot,  but  I'm  not  the 
sort  to  go  ramming  my  head  against  the  French 
Government  for  the  mere  sport  of  the  thing." 

"  I  was  told,"  said  Carnegie  wearily,  "  that  you 
were  a  man  that  feared  nothing  on  this  earth,  or  I 
would  not  have  asked  you  to  call  upon  me." 

"  You  were  told  right,"  said  Kettle.  "  But  those 
that  spoke  about  me  should  have  added  that  I'm  not 
a  man  who'll  take  a  ticket  to  land  myself  in  an  ugly 
mess  unless  some  one  pays  my  train  fare  and  gives 
me  something  to  spend  at  the  other  end.  I'm  a 
sailor,  sir,  by  trade  or  profession,  whichever  you  like 
to  name  it,  and  on  a  steamboat,  when  a  row  has  been 
started,  I'll  not  say  but  what  I've  seen  it  through 
more  than  once  out  of  sheer  delight  in  wrestling  with 
an  ugly  scrape.  Yes,  sir,  that's  the  kind  of  brute  I 
am  at  sea. 

"But  what  you  propose  is  different;  it's  out  of 

my  line;  it's  gaol-breaking,  no  less;  with  a  spell  of 

seven  years  in  the  jug  if  I  don't  succeed,  and  no  kind 

of  credit  to  wear,  or  dollars  to  jingle,  if  I  do  carry 

it  through  as  you  wish.     And  may  I  ask,  sir,  why  I 

should  interest  myself  in  this  Mr.  Clare?     I  never 

124 


THE  ESCAPE.  12$ 

heard  of  him  till  I  came  in  this  room  half-an-hour 
ago  in  answer  to  your  advertisement." 

"  He  is  unjustly  condemned,"  Carnegie  repeated, 
as  though  he  were  quoting  from  a  lesson.  "  He  is 
suffering  imprisonment  in  this  pestilential  place — er 
— Cayenne  for  a  fault  which  some  one  else  has 
committed  ;  and  unless  he  is  rescued  he  will  die 
there  horribly.  I  am  appealing  to  your  humanity, 
Captain.  Would  you  see  a  fellow-countryman 
wronged  ?  " 

"  I  have  only  to  look  in  the  glass  for  that,"  retorted 
Kettle.  "  Most  people's  kicks  come  to  me  when  I 
am  anywhere  within  hail.  And  you'll  kindly  observe, 
sir,  that  I've  nothing  but  your  bare  word  to  go  on 
for  Mr.  Clare's  innocence.  The  French  Courts  and 
the  French  people,  by  your  own  admitting,  took  a 
very  different  view  of  the  matter.  They  said  with 
clearness  that  he  did  sell  those  plans  of  fortresses  to 
the  Germans,  and,  knowing  their  way  of  looking  at 
such  a  matter,  it  only  surprises  me  he  wasn't  guil- 
lotined out  of  hand." 

"  It  is  my  daughter  who  is  sure  of  his  guiltlessness 
in  the  matter,"  said  Carnegie  with  a  flush.  "  And," 
he  added,  **  I  may  say  that  she  is  the  chief  person 
who  wishes  for  his  escape." 

Captain  Kettle  bowed,  and  fingered  the  tarnished 
badge  on  his  cap.  He  had  a  chivalrous  respect  for 
the  other  sex. 

"  And  it  was  she  who  made  me  advertise  vaguely 
for  a  seafaring  man  who  had  got  daring  and  the 
skill  to  carry  out  so  delicate  a  matter.  We  had  two 
hundred  answers  in  four  posts:  can  you  credit  such 
a  thing?  " 


126  ADVENTURES  OF  CAPTAIN  KETTLE. 

"  Easily,"  said  Kettle.  "  I  am  not  the  only  poor 
devil  of  a  skipper  who's  out  of  a  job.  But  a  hundred 
pounds  is  not  enough,  and  that's  the  beginning  and 
the  end  of  it.  There's  two  ways  of  doing  this  busi- 
ness, I  guess,  and  one  of  them's  fighting,  and  the 
other's  bribery.  Well,  sir,  a  man  can't  collect  much 
of  an  army  for  twenty  five-pun'  notes  ;  and  as  for 
bribery,  why  it's  hardly  enough  to  buy  up  a  deputy 
Customs  inspector  in  the  ordinary  way  of  business, 
let  alone  a  whole  squad  of  Cayenne  warders  with  a 
big  idea  of  their  own  value  and  importance. 

"Then  there's  getting  out  to  French  Guiana,  and 
geting  back,  and  steamer  fare  for  the  pair  of  us 
would  come  to  more  than  a  couple  of  postage  stamps. 
And  then  where  do  I  come  in?  You  say  I  can 
pocket  the  balance.  But  I'm  hanged  if  I  see  where 
the  balance  is  going  to  be  squeezed  from.  No,  sir  ; 
a  hundred  pounds  is  mere  foolishness,  and  the 
kindest  thing  I  can  do  is  to  go  away  without  further 
talk.  By  James,  sir,  I  can  say  that  if  you'd  given 
me  this  precious  scheme  as  your  own,  there's  a  man 
in  this  room  who  would  have  had  a  smashed  face 
for  his  impudence  ;  but,  as  you  tell  me  there's  a  lady 
in  the  case,  I'll  say  no  more." 

Captain  Kettle  stood  up,  thrust  out  his  chin  ag- 
gressively, and  swung  on  his  cap.  Then  he  took 
it  off  again,  and  coughed  with  politeness.  The  door 
opened,  and  the  girl  they  had  been  speaking  about 
came  into  the  room.  She  stepped  quickly  across 
and  took  his  hand. 

"  Captain  Kettle,"  she  said,  "  I  could  not  leave 
you  alone  with  my  father  any  longer.  I  just  had 
to  come  in  and  thank  you  for  myself.     I  knew  you 


THE   ESCAPE.  1 27 

would  be  the  man  to  help  us  in  our  trouble.  I  knew 
it  from  your  letter." 

The  little  sailor  coughed  again,  and  reddened 
slightly  under  the  tan.  "  I'm  afraid,  miss,"  he  said, 
"  I  am  useless.  As  I  was  explaining  to  your — to 
Mr.  Carnegie,  before  you  came  in,  the  job  is  a  bit  out- 
side my  weight.  You  see,  when  I  answered  that 
advertisement,  I  thought  it  was  something  with  a 
steamboat  that  was  wanted,  and  for  that  sort  of 
thing,  with  any  kind  of  crew  that  signs  on,  I  am 
fitted,  and  no  man  better.     But  this " 

*'  Oh,  do  not  say  it  is  beyond  you.  Other  pris- 
oners have  escaped  from  the  French  penal  settle- 
ments. It  only  requires  a  strong,  determined  man 
to  arrange  matters  from  the  outside,  and  the  thing 
is  done." 

Kettle  fidgeted  with  the  badge  on  his  cap.  "  With 
respect,  miss,"  said  he,  "  what  any  other  man  could 
do,  I  would  not  shy  at ;  but  the  thing  you've  got 
here's  impossible  ;  and  the  gentleman  will  just  have 
to  stay  where  he  is  and  serve  out  the  time  he's 
earned." 

"But,  sir,"  the  girl  broke  out  passionately,  "he 
has  not  earned  it.  He  was  accused  unjustly.  He 
was  condemned  as  a  scapegoat  to  shield  others. 
They  were  powerful — he  was  without  interest  ;  and 
all  France  was  shrieking  for  a  victim.  Mr.  Clare 
was  a  subordinate  in  a  Government  office  through 
which  these  plans  of  fortresses  had  passed.  He  was 
by  birth  half  an  Englishman,  and  so  it  was  easy  to 
raise  suspicion  against  him.  They  forged  great 
sheaves  of  evidence  ;  they  drew  off  attention  from 
the  real  thieves  ;  they  shamed  him  horribly  ;  and  then 


128  ADVENTURES  OF  CAPTAIN   KETTLE. 

they  sent  him  off  to  those  awful  Isles  de  Salut  for  life. 
Yes,  for  life — till  age  or  the  diseases  of  the  place 
should  free  him  by  death.  Can  you  think  of  any- 
thing more  frightful?" 

"  Mr.  Clare  is  fortunate  in  having  such  a  friend." 

"  A  friend  !  "  she  repeated.  "  Has  not  my  father 
told  you  ?  I  am  his  promised  wife.  Fancy  the 
irony  of  it !  We  were  to  have  been  married  the  very 
day  he  was  condemned.  It  was  my  money  and  my 
father's  which  defended  him  at  the  trial,  and  it 
nearly  beggared  us.  And  now  I  will  spend  the  last 
penny  I  can  touch  to  get  him  free  again." 

Captain  Kettle  coughed  once  more.  "  It  was 
upon  a  question  of  money  that  Mr.  Carnegie  and  I 
split,  miss.  I  said  to  him  a  hundred  pounds  would 
not  work  it,  and  there's  the  naked  truth." 

"  But  it  must,"  she  cried,  **  it  must !  You  think  us 
mean — niggardly.  But  it  is  not  that ;  we  can  raise 
no  more.  We  are  at  the  end  of  our  funds.  Look 
around  at  this  room  ;  does  this  look  like  riches  ?  " 

It  did  not.  They  were  in  a  grimy  Newcastle  lodg- 
ing, au  troisi^me,  and  at  one  side  of  the  room  the 
flank  of  a  bedstead  showed  itself  in  outline  against 
a  curtain.  The  paper  was  torn  and  the  carpet  was 
absent,  and  from  the  shaft  of  the  stairway  came 
that  mingled  scent  of  clothes  and  fried  onion  which 
is  native  to  this  type  of  dwelling. 

Carnegie  himself  was  a  faded  man  of  fifty.  His 
daughter  carried  the  recent  traces  of  beauty,  but 
anxiety  had  lined  her  face,  and  the  pinch  of  res 
angustcB  had  frayed  her  gown.  All  went  to  adver- 
tise the  truth  of  what  the  girl  had  been  saying,  and 
Kettle's  heart  warmed  towards  her.     He  knew  right 


THE   ESCAPE.  1 29 

well  the  nip  of  poverty  himself.  But  still,  he  did 
not  see  his  way  to  perform  impossibilities,  and  he 
lifted  up  his  voice  and  said  so  with  glum  frankness. 

"  I  am  not  remembering  for  a  minute,  miss,"  he  ex- 
plained,  "  that  I  am  a  fellow  with  a  wife  and  children 
dependent  on  my  earnings.  I  am  looking  at  the 
matter  as  though  I  might  be  Mr.  Clare's  relative, 
and  I  have  got  nothing  new  to  tell  you.  A  hun- 
dred pounds  will  not  do  it,  and  that  is  the  end  of  the 
matter." 

The  girl  wrung  her  hands  and  looked  pitifully 
across  at  her  father. 

"  Well,"  said  Carnegie  with  a  heavy  sigh,  "  I  will 
scrape  up  a  hundred  and  twenty,  though  that  will 
force  us  to  go  hungry.  And  that  is  final.  Captain. 
If  my  own  neck  depended  upon  it,  I  could  not  lay 
hands  on  more." 

Captain  Owen  Kettle's  face  wore  a  look  of  pain. 
He  was  a  man  of  chivalrous  instincts  ;  it  irked  him 
to  disoblige  a  lady  ;  but  the  means  they  offered  him 
were  so  terribly  insufficient.  He  did  not  repeat  his 
refusal  aloud,  but  his  face  spoke  with  eloquent 
sympathy. 

The  girl  sank  into  one  of  the  shabby  chairs  de- 
spairingly. "  If  you  fail  me,  sir,"  she  said,  "  then  I 
have  no  hope." 

Kettle  turned  away,  still  fingering  the  tarnished 
badge  on  his  cap,  and  stared  drearily  through  the 
grimy  window-panes.  A  silence  filled  the  room. 
Carnegie  broke  it. 

"  Other  men  answered  the  advertisement,"  he 
suggested. 

"I  know  they  did,"  his  daughter  said;  "and  I 
Q 


I30  ADVENTURES   OF  CAPTAIN  KETTLE. 

read  their  letters,  and  I  read  Captain  Kettle's  and  if 
there  is  one  man  who  could  help  us  out  of  all  those 
that  answered,  he  is  here  now  in  this  room.  My 
heart  went  out  to  him  at  once  when  I  saw  his  ap* 
plication.  I  had  never  heard  of  him  before,  but, 
when  I  read  the  few  pages  he  sent,  it  came  to  me  that 
I  knew  him  intimately  from  then  onwards,  and  that 
he  and  no  other  in  all  the  world  could  do  the  service 
which  we  want.  Sir,"  she  said,  addressing  the  little 
sailor  directly,  *'  I  learnt  from  that  letter  that  you 
made  poetry,  and  I  felt  that  the  romance  of  this 
matter  would  carry  you  on  where  any  other  man 
with  merely  commercial  instincts  would  fail." 

"  Then  you  like  poetry,  miss  ?  " 

*'  I  write  it,"  she  said,  *'  for  the  magazines,  and 
sometimes  it  gets  into  print." 

"  Would  you  mind  shaking  hands  with  me  ?  "  asked 
Captain  Kettle. 

"  I  want  to  do  so,"  she  answered,  "  if  you  will  let 
that  mean  the  signing  of  our  contract." 

Captain  Kettle  held  out  his  fist.  "  Put  it  there, 
miss,"  said  he.  "  The  French  Government  is  a  lump- 
ing big  concern,  but  I've  bucked  against  a  Govern- 
ment before  and  come  out  top  side,  and,  by  James, 
I'll  do  it  again.  You  stay  at  home,  miss,  and  write 
poetry,  and  get  the  magazines  to  print  it,  instead  of 
those  rotten  adventure  yarns  they're  so  fond  of,  and 
you'll  be  doing  Great  Britain  a  large  service.  What 
the  people  in  this  country  need  is  nice  rural  poetry 
to  tell  them  what  sunsets  are  like,  and  how  corn 
grows,  and  all  that,  and  not  cut-throat  stories  they 
might  fill  out  for  themselves  from  the  morning  news- 
papers if  they  only  knew  the  men  and  the  ground. 


THE   ESCAPE.  I3I 

"  If  I  can  only  know  you're  at  home  here,  miss, 
doing  that,  I  can  set  about  this  other  matter  with  a 
cheerful  heart.  I  don't  think  the  money  will  be  of 
much  good  ;  but  you  may  trust  me  to  get  out  to 
French  Guiana  somehow,  even  if  I  have  to  work  my 
way  there  before  the  mast ;  and  I'll  collar  hold  of 
Mr.  Clare  for  you  and  deliver  him  on  board  a  British 
ship  in  the  best  repair  which  circumstances  will  per- 
mit. You  mustn't  expect  me  to  do  impossibilities, 
miss;  but  I'm  working  now  for  a  lady  who  writes 
poetry  for  the  magazines,  and  you'll  see  me  go  that 
near  to  them  you'll  probably  be  astonished." 

Turn  now  to  another  scene.  There  is  a  certain 
turtle-backed  isle  in  the  Caribbean  Sea  sufficiently 
small  and  naked  to  be  nameless  on  the  charts.  The 
Admiralty  hydrographers  m.ark  it  merely  by  a  tiny 
black  dot  ;  the  American  chartmaker  has  gone 
further  and  branded  it  as  "  shoal,"  which  seems  to 
hint  (and  quite  incorrectly)  that  there  is  water  over 
it  at  least  during  spring  tides. 

The  patch  of  land,  which  is  egg-shaped,  measures 
some  180  yards  across  its  longer  diameter,  and,  al- 
though no  green  seas  can  roll  across  its  face,  it  is 
sufficiently  low  in  the  water  for  the  spindrift  to  whip 
every  inch  of  its  surface  during  even  the  mildest  of 
gales.  On  these  occasions  the  wind  lifts  great  layers 
of  sand  from  off  the  roof  of  the  isle,  but  ever  the  sea 
spews  up  more  sand  against  the  beaches ;  and  so 
the  bulk  of  the  place  remains  a  constant  quantity, 
although  the  material  whereof  it  is  built  is  no  two 
months  the  same. 

As  a  residence  the  place  is  singularly  undesirable, 


132  ADVENTURES   Of^  CAPTAIN   KETTLE. 

and  it  is  probable  that,  until  Captain  Owen  Kettle 
scraped  for  himself  a  shelter-trench  in  the  middle 
of  the  turtle  back  of  sand,  the  isle  had  been  left 
severely  alone  by  man  throughout  all  the  centuries. 

Still  human  breath  was  hourly  drawn  in  the 
immediate  neighborhood,  and  when  the  airs  blew 
towards  the  isle,  or  the  breezes  lay  stagnant,  sharp, 
human  cries  fell  dimly  on  Kettle's  ear  to  tell  him 
that  men  near  at  hand  were  alive,  and  awake,  and 
plying  their  appointed  occupations.  The  larger 
wooded  island,  which  lay  a  long  rifle  shot  away, 
was  part  of  the  French  penal  settlement  of  Cayenne ; 
and  the  cries  were  the  higher  notes  of  its  tragic 
opera.  But  they  affected  Captain  Kettle  not  at  all. 
He  was  there  on  business  ;  he  had  been  at  much 
pains  to  arrive  at  his  present  situation,  and  had 
earned  a  bullet  scar  across  the  temple  during  the 
process  ;  and,  as  some  time  was  to  elapse  before  his 
next  move  became  due,  he  was  filling  up  the  inter- 
vening hours  by  the  absorbing  pursuit  of  literature. 

He  squatted  on  the  floor  of  his  sandpit,  with  his 
teeth  set  in  the  butt  of  a  cold  cigar,  and  rapped  out 
the  lines  of  sonnets,  and  transferred  them  to  a  sheet 
of  sea-stained  paper.  He  used  the  stubby  bullet  of  a 
revolver  cartridge  from  lack  of  a  more  refined  pencil, 
and  his  muse  worked  with  lusty  pace — as,  indeed,  it 
was  always  wont  to  do  when  the  world  went  more 
than  usually  awry  with  him. 

To  even  catalogue  the  little  scamp's  adventures 
since  his  parting  with  Miss  Carnegie  in  that  Tyne- 
side  lodging,  would  be  to  write  a  lengthy  book ; 
and  they  are  omitted  here  in  toto,  because  to  detail 
them  would  of  necessity  compromise  worthy  men, 


THE  ESCAPE.  1 33 

both  French  and  English,  who  do  not  wish  their 
traffic  with  Kettle  to  be  publicly  advertised. 

Suffice  it  to  say,  then,  that  he  made  his  way  out 
to  French  Guiana  by  ways  best  known  to  himself; 
pervaded  Cayenne  under  an  alias,  which  the  local 
gendarmerie  laid  bare ;  exchanged  pistol  shots  with 
those  in  authority  to  avoid  arrest  ;  and,  in  fact,  put 
the  entire  penal  colony,  from  the  governor  down  to 
the  meanest  convict,  into  a  fever  of  unrest  entirely 
on  his  especial  behalf. 

He  was  put  to  making  temporary  headquarters 
in  a  mangrove  swamp,  and  completing  his  prepara- 
tions from  there,  and,  to  say  the  least  of  it,  matters 
went  hardly  with  him.  But  at  last  he  got  his  pre- 
liminaries settled,  and  left  his  bivouac  among  the 
maddening  mosquitos,  and  the  slime,  and  the  snaky 
tree  roots,  and  took  to  the  seas  again  in  a  lugsail 
boat,  which  he  annexed  by  force  of  arms  from  its 
four  original  owners. 

A  cold-minded  person  might  say  that  the  taking 
of  that  boat  was  an  act  of  glaring  piracy  ;  but  Kettle 
told  himself  that,  so  far  as  the  French  of  Cayenne 
were  concerned,  he  was  a  "  recognised  belligerent," 
and  so  all  the  manoeuvres  of  war  were  candidly  open 
to  him.  He  had  no  more  qualms  in  capturing  that 
lugsail  boat  from  a  superior  force  than  Nelson  once 
had  about  taking  large  ships  from  the  French  in  the 
Bay  of  Aboukir. 

He  had  a  depot  of  tinned  meats  cachid  by  one  of 
his  agents  up  a  mangrove  creek,  and  under  cover  of 
night  he  sailed  up  and  got  these  on  board,  and 
built  them  in  tightly  under  the  thwarts  of  his  boat 
so  that  they  would  not  shift  in  the  seaway.     And 


134  ADVENTURES  OF  CAPTAIN   KETTLE. 

finally,  again  cloaked  by  friendly  darkness,  he  ran 
on  to  the  beach  of  the  turtle-backed  isle,  hid  his 
boat  in  a  gully  of  the  sand,  scooped  out  a  personal 
residence  where  he  would  be  visible  only  to  God 
and  the  sea-fowl,  and  sat  himself  down  to  wait  for 
an  appointed  hour. 

By  day  the  sun  grilled  him,  by  night  the  sea- 
mists  drenched  him  to  the  skin,  and  at  times  gales 
lifted  the  surface  from  the  Caribbean  and  sent  it 
whistling  across  the  roof  of  the  isle  in  volleys  of 
stinging  spindrift.  Moreover,  he  was  constantly 
pestered  by  that  local  ailment,  chills-and-fever,  partly 
as  a  result  of  two  or  three  trifling  wounds  bestowed 
by  the  gendarmerie,  and  partly  as  payment  for  resi- 
dence in  the  miasmatic  mangrove  swamps  ;  so  that, 
on  the  whole,  life  was  not  very  tolerable  to  him,  and 
he  might  have  been  pardoned  had  he  cursed  Miss 
Carnegie  for  sending  him  on  so  troublesome  an 
errand.  But  he  did  not  do  this.  He  remembered 
that  she  was  occupying  herself  at  home  in  New- 
castle with  the  creation  of  poetry  for  the  British 
magazines  according  to  their  agreement,  and  he  for- 
got his  discomforts  in  the  glow  of  a  Maecenas.  It 
was  the  first  time  he  had  been  a  bond  fide  patroti  of 
letters,  and  the  pleasure  of  it  intoxicated  him. 

A  fortnight  passed  by — he  had  given  Clare  a  fort- 
night in  the  message  he  smuggled  into  the  convict 
station  for  him  to  make  certain  preparations — and 
at  the  end  of  that  space  of  time  Captain  Kettle 
rolled  his  MSS.  inside  an  oilskin  cover,  and  addressed 
it  to  Miss  Carnegie — in  case  of  accidents.  He  put 
beckets  on  the  top  of  his  cap,  slipped  his  revolver 
into  these,  and  put  the  cap  on  his  head  ;  and  then. 


THE   ESCAPE.  1 35 

stripping  to  the  buff,  he  left  his  form  and  got  up  on 
to  the  sand,  and  walked  down  its  milk-warm  surface 
to  the  water's  edge. 

The  ripples  rang  like  a  million  of  the  tiniest  bells 
upon  the  fine  shingle,  and  the  stars  in  the  velvet 
night  above  were  reflected  in  the  water.  It  was  far 
too  still  a  night  for  his  purpose — far  too  dangerously 
clear.  He  would  have  preferred  rain,  or  even  half 
a  gale  of  wind.  But  he  had  fixed  his  appointment, 
and  he  was  not  the  man  to  let  any  detail  of  added 
danger  make  him  break  a  tryst.  So  he  waded  down 
into  the  lonely  sea,  and  struck  out  at  a  steady 
breast  stroke  for  the  Isle  de  Salut,  which  loomed  in 
low  black  outline  across  the  waters  before  him. 

A  more  hazardous  business  than  this  part  of  the 
man's  expedition  it  would  be  hard  to  conceive. 
There  were  no  prisoners  in  the  world  more  jealously 
guarded  than  those  in  the  pestilential  settlement 
ahead  of  him.  They  were  forgers,  murderers,  or, 
what  the  French  hate  still  more,  traitors  and  foreign 
spies  ;  and  once  they  stepped  ashore  upon  the  beach 
they  were  there  for  always.  They  were  all  life-sen- 
tence men.  Until  ferocious  labor  or  the  batterings 
of  the  climate  sent  them  to  rest  below  the  soil,  they 
were  doomed  to  pain  with  every  breath  they 
drew. 

Desperate  gaoling  like  this  makes  desperate  men, 
and  did  any  of  the  prisoners — even  the  most  cow- 
ardly of  them — see  the  glimmer  of  a  chance  to 
escape,  he  would  leap  to  take  it,  even  though  he 
knew  that  a  certain  hailstorm  of  lead  would  pelt 
along  his  trail.  And  as  a  consequence  the  rim  of 
the  isle  bristled  with  armed  warders,  all  of  them 


136  ADVENTURES   OF  CAPTAIN  KETTLE. 

marksmen,  who  shot  at  anything  that  moved,  and 
who  had  as  little  compunction  in  dropping  a  pris- 
oner as  any  other  sportsman  would  have  in  knock- 
ing over  a  partridge. 

To  add  to  Captain  Kettle's  tally  of  dangers,  the 
phosphorescence  that  night  was  peculiarly  vivid  ; 
the  sea  glowed  where  he  breasted  it ;  his  wake  was 
lit  with  streams  of  silver  fire ;  his  whole  body  stood 
out  like  a  smoulder  of  flame  on  a  cloth  of  black  vel- 
vet. His  presence  moved  upon  the  face  of  the 
waters  as  an  open  advertisement.  He  was  an  illumi- 
nated target  for  every  rifle  that  chose  to  sight  him, 
and,  far  worse,  he  was  a  fiery  bait  bright  enough  to 
draw  every  shark  in  the  Caribbean.  And  sharks 
swarmed  there.  His  limbs  crept  as  he  swam  with 
them. 

To  move  fast  was  to  increase  the  phosphorescence ; 
to  move  slow  was  to  linger  in  that  horrible  suspense  ; 
and  I  think  it  is  one  of  the  highest  testimonials  to 
Kettle's  indomitable  courage  when  I  can  say  that 
not  once  during  that  ghastly  voyage  did  he  either 
hurry,  or  scurry,  or  splash.  He  was  a  prey  to  the 
most  abominable  dread  ;  he  expended  an  hour  and 
a  half  over  an  hour's  swim,  and  it  seemed  to  him  a 
space  of  years  ;  and  when  he  grounded  on  the  beach 
of  the  Isle  de  Salut  he  was  almost  fainting  from  the 
strain  of  his  emotions,  and  for  awhile  lay  on  the 
sand  sobbing  like  a  hysterical  schoolgirl. 

But  a  sound  revived  him  and  sent  full  energy  into 
his  limbs  again  without  a  prelude.  From  the  dis- 
tance there  came  to  him  the  noise  of  shod  feet  crunch- 
ing with  regulation  tread  along  the  shingle.  He 
was  lying  in  the  track  of  a  sentry's  beat. 


THE   ESCAPE.  1 37 

By  instinct  his  hand  dragged  the  revolver  from 
its  beckets  on  his  cap,  and  then  he  rose  to  his  feet 
and  darted  away  like  some  slim  pink  ghost  across 
the  beach  into  the  shelter  of  the  thickets.  He  lay 
there  holding  his  breath,  and  watched  the  sentry 
pace  upon  his  patrol.  It  was  evident  that  the  man 
had  not  seen  him  ;  the  fellow  neither  glanced  towards 
the  cover  nor  searched  the  beach  for  foot-tracks ; 
and  yet  he  carried  his  rifle  in  the  crook  of  his  arm 
ready  for  a  snap  shot,  and  flickered  his  eyes  to  this 
side  and  to  that  like  a  man  habitually  trained  to 
sudden  alarms  and  a  quick  trigger  finger.  His  every 
movement  was  eloquent  of  the  care  with  which  the 
Isle  de  Salut  was  warded. 

Kettle  waited  till  the  man  had  gone  off  into  the 
dark  again  and  the  soundless  distance,  and  then 
stepped  out  from  his  ambush,  and  ran  at  speed 
along  the  dim,  starlit  beach.  The  sand-pats  sprang 
backwards  from  his  flying  toes,  and  the  birds  in  the 
forest  rim  moved  uneasily  as  he  passed.  The  little 
man  was  sea-bred  first  and  last ;  he  had  no  knowledge 
of  woodcraft ;  a  silent  stalk  was  a  flight  far  beyond 
him  ;  and  he  raced  along  his  way,  revolver  in  hand, 
confident  that  he  could  shoot  any  intruding  sentry 
before  a  rifle  could  be  brought  to  bear. 

Of  course,  the  discharge  of  weapons  would  have 
waked  the  isle,  and  brought  the  whole  wasps'  nest 
about  his  ears.  But  this  was  a  state  of  things  he 
could  have  faced  out  brazenly.  Throughout  all  his 
stormy  life  he  had  never  yet  shirked  a  m^l<fe,  and 
perhaps  immunity  from  serious  harm  had  given  him 
an  over-estimate  of  the  percentage  of  bullets  which 
go  astray.     At  any  rate,  the  thrill  of  brisk  fighting 


138  ADVENTURES   OP^   CAPTAIN   KETTLE. 

was  a  pleasure  he  well  knew,  and  he  never  went  far 
out  of  his  way  to  avoid  it. 

But,  as  it  was,  he  sped  along  his  path  unnoticed. 
The  blunders  of  chance  threaded  him  through  the 
shadows  and  the  chain  of  sentries  so  that  no  living 
soul  picked  up  the  alarm,  till  at  last  he  pulled  up 
panting  at  the  edge  of  the  open  space  which  edged 
in  the  grim  convict  barrack  itself. 

And  now  began  a  hateful  tedium  of  waiting.  The 
day  he  had  fixed  with  Clare  was  the  right  one ;  the 
hour  of  the  rendezvous  was  vague.  He  had  said 
"  as  near  midnight  as  may  be  "  in  his  message  ;  but 
he  was  only  able  to  guess  at  the  time  himself,  and 
he  expected  that  Clare  was  in  a  similar  plight.  Any- 
way, the  man  was  not  there,  and  Kettle  gnawed  his 
fingers  with  impatience  as  he  awaited  him. 

The  night  under  the  winking  stars  was  full  of 
noise.  In  the  forest  trees  the  jarflies  and  the  tree- 
crickets  and  the  katydids  kept  up  their  maddening 
chorus.  The  drumming  mosquitoes  scented  the 
naked  man  from  afar  and  put  ever}'^  inch  of  his  body 
to  the  torment.  The  moist,  damp  heat  of  the  place 
made  him  pant  to  get  his  breath.  The  prison  itself 
was  full  of  the  uneasy  rustling  of  men  sleeping  in 
discomfort,  and  at  regular  intervals  some  crazy 
wretch  within  the  walls  cried  out  "  Dieu,  Dieu, 
Dieu  !  "  as  though  he  were  a  human  cuckoo  clock 
condemned  to  chime  after  stated  lapses  of  minutes. 

An  hour  passed,  and  still  the  uneasy  night  dozed 
on  without  notice  that  a  prisoner  was  trying  to  es- 
cape. Another  hour  went  by,  and  Captain  Kettle 
began  to  contemplate  the  possibilities  of  attacking 
the  grim  building  with  his  own  itching  fingers,  and 


THE   ESCAPE.  1 39 

dragging  Clare  forth  in  the  teeth  of  whatever  op- 
position might  befall.  *'  Duu,  Dieu^  Dieu  /  "  rang 
out  the  tormented  man  within  the  walls,  and  then 
from  round  the  further  angle  of  the  place  a  figure 
came  running,  who  stared  wildly  about  him  as 
though  in  search  of  some  one. 

Kettle  stepped  out  from  his  nook  of  concealment, 
a  clear,  pale  mark  in  the  starlight.  The  runner 
swerved,  stopped,  and  hesitated.  Kettle  beckoned 
him,  and  the  man  threw  away  his  doubt  and  raced 
up.  The  little  sailor  thrust  out  a  moist  hand. 
"  You'll  be  Mr.  Clare,  sir,  I  presume  ?  " 

"  Yes." 

"  I'm  very  pleased  to  have  the  honor  of  meeting 
you.  I'm  Captain  Kettle,  that  was  asked  as  a  favor 
by  Miss  Carnegie " 

"  Let  us  get  away,  quick.  They  will  be  after  me 
directly,  and  if  they  catch  me  I  shall  be  shot.  Mr. 
Kettle,  quick,  where  is  your  boat  ?  " 

But  the  little  naked  man  did  not  budge.  "  I  am 
accustomed,  sir,"  he  said  stiffly,  "  to  having  my 
title." 

"  I  don't  understand.  Oh,  afterwards ;  but  let  us 
get  away  now  at  once." 

"  Captain  Kettle,  sir." 

**  Captain  Kettle,  certainly.  But  this  waiting  may 
cost  us  our  lives." 

"  I  am  not  anxious  to  take  root  here,  sir,  but,  as 
for  the  boat,  you've  a  good  swim  ahead  of  you  be- 
fore we  reach  that."  And  he  told  of  the  way  he  had 
come.  "  There  was  no  other  plan  for  it,  Mr.  Clare. 
It  would  have  been  sheer  foolishness  to  have  brought 
my  boat  to  this  island  with  all  these  busy  people 


I40  ADVENTURES   OF   CAPTAIN   KETTLE. 

with  guns  prowling  about.  I  had  just  got  to  leave 
her  at  my  headquarters,  and  you  must  make  up 
your  mind  to  swim  and  risk  the  sharks  if  you  wish 
to  join  her." 

"  I  am  open  to  risking  anything,"  said  Clare. 
"  It's  neck  or  nothing  with  me  after  what  I  did  five 
minutes  back  in  that  hell  over  yonder.     One  of  the 

warders "  he  broke  off  and  dragged  a  hand  across 

his  eyes.  "  Look  here,  Captain,  we  are  bound  to 
be  seen  if  we  go  back  round  by  the  beach.  Come 
with  me  and  I'll  show  you  a  track  through  the 
woods." 

He  started  off  into  the  cover  without  waiting  for 
a  reply,  and  Kettle  with  a  frown  turned  and  fol- 
lowed at  his  heels.  Captain  Kettle  preferred  to  do 
the  ordering  himself,  and  this  young  man  seemed 
apt  to  assert  command.  However,  the  moment 
was  one  for  hurry.  The  night  was  beginning  to 
thin.  So  he  got  up  speed  again,  and  the  trees  and 
the  undergrowth  closed  behind  him. 

*'  Dieti,  Dieu,  Dieu  !  "  cried  out  the  tormented  pris- 
oner within  the  walls  as  a  parting  benediction. 

Some  men,  like  the  historical  Dr.  Fell,  have  the 
knack,  unknown  to  themselves,  of  inspiring  dislike 
in  others,  and  Clare  had  this  effect  upon  Captain 
Owen  Kettle.  The  little  sailor's  dislike  was  born 
at  the  first  moment  of  their  meeting.  It  grew  as 
he  ran  through  the  forest  of  the  Isle  de  Salut ;  and 
even  when  Clare  fell  upon  a  sentry  and  beat  the 
sense  out  of  him  as  neatly  as  he  could  have  done  it 
himself.  Kettle  failed  to  admire  or  sympathise  with 
him. 


THE   ESCAPE.  I4I 

On  the  return  swim  to  the  turtle-backed  island 
he  came  very  near  to  wishing  that  a  shark  would 
get  the  man,  although  such  a  calamity  would  have 
meant  his  own  almost  certain  destruction  ;  and  when 
they  lay  together,  packed  like  a  pair  of  sardines,  in 
the  shelter  pit,  under  the  intolerable  sunshine  of 
the  succeeding  day,  it  was  with  difficulty  he  could 
keep  his  hands  off  this  fellow  whom  he  had  gone 
through  so  much  to  help. 

Clare  put  in  what  of  talking  was  done ;  the  sailor 
preserved  a  sour,  glum  silence.  He  felt  that  if  he 
gave  his  vinegary  tongue  the  freedom  it  wished  for, 
nothing  could  prevent  a  collison. 

He  argued  out  with  himself  the  cause  for  this 
dislike  during  the  succeeding  night.  They  had  got 
the  boat  in  the  water,  had  mastheaded  the  lug,  and 
were  running  northwest  before  a  snoring  breeze  to- 
wards the  British  West  Indian  Islands.  He  himself, 
with  main-sheet  in  one  hand  and  tiller  in  the  other, 
was  in  solitary  command.  Clare  was  occupied  in 
baling  back  the  seas  to  their  appointed  place. 

For  a  long  time  the  utmost  he  could  discover 
against  the  man  was  that  on  occasions  he  "  was  too 
bossy,"  and  with  bitter  satire  he  ridiculed  himself 
for  a  childish  weakness.  But  then  another  thought 
drifted  into  his  mind,  and  he  picked  it  up,  and 
weighed  it,  and  balanced  it,  and  valued  it,  till  under 
the  fostering  care  it  grew,  and  the  little  sailor  felt 
with  a  glow  and  a  tightening  of  the  lips  that  he  had 
now  indeed  a  real  and  legitimate  cause  for  hate. 

What  mention  had  this  fellow  Clare  made  of 
Miss  Carnegie?  Practically  none.  He,  Kettle,  had 
stated  by  whom  he  was  sent  to  the  rescue,  and  Clare 


142  ADVENTURES   OF   CAPTAIN   KETTLE. 

had  received  the  news  with  a  casual  "  Oh !  "  and  a 
yawn.  He  had  offered  further  information  (when 
the  first  scurry  of  the  escape  was  over,  and  they 
were  cached  in  the  sandpit)  upon  Miss  Carnegie's 
movements  and  her  condition  as  last  viewed  in  New- 
castle, and  Clare  had  pleaded  tiredness  and  suggested 
another  hour  for  the  recital.  Was  this  the  proper 
attitude  for  a  lover?  It  was  not.  Was  this  meet 
behaviour  for  the  future  husband  of  such  a  woman  as 
Miss  Carnegie,  who  was  not  only  herself,  but  who 
also  wrote  poetry  for  the  magazines  ?  Ten  thousand 
times  over,  it  was  not. 

He  sheeted  home  the  lug  a  couple  of  inches  in  re- 
sponse to  a  shift  of  the  breeze,  and  opened  his  lips 
in  speech. 

"  Miss  Carnegie,  sir,"  he  began,  "  is  a  lady  I  esteem 
very  highly." 

"  She  is  a  nice  girl,"  assented  the  man  with  the 
baler. 

"  She  is  willing  to  beggar  herself  to  do  you  ser- 
vice, sir." 

"  Yes,  I  know  she  is  very  fond  of  me." 

"  And  I  should  like  to  know  if  you  are  equally 
fond  of  her?" 

"  Steady,  Captain,  steady.  I  don't  quite  see  what 
you  have  got  to  do  with  it."  He  paused  and  looked 
at  the  sailor  curiously.  "  Look  here,  I  say,  you  seem 
to  talk  a  deuce  of  a  deal  about  Miss  Carnegie.  Are 
you  sweet  on  her  yourself?  " 

Captain  Kettle  glared,  and  it  is  probable  that,  if 
such  an  action  would  not  have  swamped  the  boat, 
he  would  have  dropped  the  tiller  and  left  the  marks 
of  his   displeasure    upon    Clare's   person    without 


THE   ESCAPE.  143 

further  barter  of  words.  But,  as  it  was,  he  deigned 
to  speak. 

"  You  dog,"  he  said,  "  if  you  make  a  suggestion 
like  that  again,  I'll  kill  you.  You've  no  right  to  say 
such  a  thing.  I  just  honor  Miss  Carnegie  as  though 
she  were  the  Queen,  or  even  more,  because  she  writes 
verse  for  the  magazines,  and  the  Queen  only  writes 
diaries.  And,  besides,  there  could  be  nothing  more 
between  us ;  I'm  a  married  man,  sir,  with  a  family. 
But  about  this  other  matter.  It  seems  to  me  I'm 
the  party  that  kind  of  holds  your  fate  just  at  present, 
young  man.  If  I  shove  this  tiller  across,  the  boat'll 
broach  to  and  swamp,  and,  whatever  happens  to  me 
— and  I  don't  vastly  care — it's  a  sure  thing  you  will 
go  to  the  place  where  there's  weeping  and  gnashing 
of  teeth.     How'd  you  like  that  ?  " 

"  Not  a  bit.  I  want  to  live.  I've  gone  through 
the  worst  time  a  human  being  can  endure  on  that 
ghastly  island  astern  there,  and  I'm  due  for  a  great 
lot  of  the  sweets  of  life  to  make  up  for  it.  And  if 
it  interests  you  to  know  it,  Captain — I  do  owe  you 
something  personally,  I  suppose,  and  you  have  some 
right  to  be  in  my  confidence — if  it  interests  you  to 
hear  such  a  things  I  may  tell  you  I  shall  probably 
marry  Miss  Carnegie  as  soon  as  I  get  back  to  her." 

"  Then  you  do  love  her?" 

"  I  don't  quite  know  what  love  is.  But  I  like  her 
well  enough,  if  that  will  do  for  you.  Hadn't  we 
better  take  down  a  reef  in  the  lug?  I  can  hardly 
keep  the  water  under." 

"  By  James,  you  leave  me  to  sail  this  boat,"  said 
Kettle,  "  and  attend  to  your  blessed  baling,  or  I'll 
knock  you  out  of  her." 


144  ADVENTURES   OF  CAPTAIN   KETTLE. 

The  conversation  languished  for  some  hours  after 
this,  and  Kettle,  with  every  nerve  on  the  strain, 
humored  the  boat  as  she  raced  before  the  heavy  fol- 
lowing seas,  whilst  the  ex-convict  scooped  back  the 
water  which  eternally  slopped  in  green  streams  over 
her  gunwale.  It  was  Clare  who  set  up  the  talk 
again. 

"  Did  she  know  anything  about  those  plans  of  the 
French  fortresses  ?  " 

"  Miss  Carnegie  had  the  most  definite  ideas  on 
the  subject." 

"  I  suppose  she'd  found  out  by  that  time  that  I 
really  did  get  hold  of  them  out  of  the  office  myself, 
and  sell  them  to  the  Germans  ?  " 

For  one  of  the  few  times  in  his  life  Captain  Kettle 
lied.  "  She  knew  the  whole  yarn  from  start  to 
finish." 

"  Well,  I  was  a  fool  to  muddle  it.  With  any 
decent  luck  I  ought  to  have  brought  off  the  coup 
without  anybody  being  the  wiser.  I  could  have 
laid  quiet  a  year  or  two  till  the  fuss  blew  over,  and 
then  had  a  tidy  fortune  to  go  upon,  and  been  able 
to  marry  whom  I  pleased,  or  not  marry  at  all.  Eh — 
well,  skipper,  that  bubble's  cracked,  and  I  suppose 
the  best  thing  I  can  do  now  is  to  marry  old  Car- 
negie's girl  after  all." 

"  Then  you've  quite  made  up  your  mind  to  marry 
this  lady?  " 

"  Quite." 

"  That's  what  you  say,"  retorted  Kettle.  "  Now 
you  hear  me.  Miss  Carnegie  thinks  you  are  in  love 
with  her,  and  you  are  not  that  by  many  a  long 
fathom  ;  so  there  goes  item  the  first.     In  the  second 


THE   ESCAPE.  I45 

place,  she  thought  you  were  sent  to  Cayenne  un- 
justly, whereas  by  your  own  showing,  you're  a  dirty 
thief,  and  deserved  all  you  got.  And,  thirdly,  I 
don't  approve  of  squeezing  fathers-in-law  as  an  in- 
dustry for  young  men  newly  out  of  gaol," 

"  You  truculent  little  ruffian,  do  you  dare  to 
threaten  me  ?  " 

"  I'd  threaten  the  Emperor  of  Germany  if  I  was 
close  to  him  and  didn't  like  what  he  was  doing. 
Here,  you  !  Don't  you  lift  that  baler  at  me,  or  I'll 
slip  some  lead  through  your  mangy  hide  before  you 
can  wink.  Now  you'll  just  understand,  for  the  rest 
of  this  cruise,  till  we  make  our  port,  you  stay  forrard, 
and  I'm  on  the  quarter-deck.  If  you  move  aft  I'll 
shoot  you  dead,  and  thank  you  for  giving  me  the 
chance.  But  if  you  get  ashore  all  in  one  piece,  I'll 
spike  your  guns  in  another  way." 

"  How  ?  "  asked  the  man  sullenly. 

"  You'll  find  out  when  you  get  there,"  said  Kettle 
grimly.  "And  now  don't  you  speak  to  me  again. 
You  aren't  wholesome.  Get  on  with  your  baling. 
D'ye  hear  me,  there?  Get  on  with  that  baling;  I 
don't  want  my  boat  to  be  swamped  through  your 
cursed  laziness." 


Now,  to  which  port  it  was  of  the  British  West 
India  Islands  that  thelugsail  boat  and  its  occupants 
arrived,  I  never  quite  made  out,  and  indeed  the 
method  in  which  Captain  Kettle  "  spiked "  Mr. 
Clare's  "  guns  "  was  hidden  from  me  till  quite  re- 
cently. A  week  ago.  however,  a  letter  of  his  drifted 
into  my  hands,  and,  as  it  seems  to  explain  all  that 
10 


146  ADVENTURES  OF  CAPTAIN  KETTLE. 

is  necessary,  I  give  it  here   exactly  as   it   left   his 
pen. 

West  India  Isi,ands. 
To  Miss  Carnegie, 

Jesmond  Street, 

Newcastle,  Engi,and. 

Honoured  Madam, 

Am  please  to  report  have  carried  out  part  of  y'  esteemed  com- 
mands. Went  to  Cayenne,  as  per  instruction,  and  took  Mr. 
Clare  away  from  French  Government,  they  not  consenting, 
Landed  him  in  good  condition  at  this  place.  Having  learnt 
that  he  did  steal  those  plans,  and,  moreover,  he  saying  he  did 
not  care  for  you  the  way  he  ought,  have  taken  liberty  to  guard 
lest  he  should  trouble  you  in  future.  To  do  this,  found  old 
coloured  washerwoman  here  (widow)  who  was  proud  to  have 
white  husband.  Him  objecting,  I  swore  to  tell  French  Consul 
if  he  did  not  marry,  and  get  him  sent  back  to  Cayenne.  So  he 
married.  She  weighs  250  lbs.  I  enclose  copy  of  their  marriage 
lines,  so  you  can  see  all  is  correct. 

Trust  you  will  excuse  liberty.  He  has  made  one  escape  ;  you 
have  made  another. 

The  weather  is  very  sultry  here,  but  they  say  there  is  fine 
scenery  up-country. 

Shall  get  English  magazines  some  day,  when  things  blow 
over  a  bit,  and  I  can  come  that  way  again,  to  look  for  your 
poetry. 

Hoping  this  finds  you  in  good  health  as  it  leaves  me  at  present. 

Y's  obedient, 

O.  Ketti^E  (Master). 
Ilnclosure. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

THE   PEARL  POACHERS. 

"  No,  Mr.  Carnforth,"  said  Kettle ;  "  it  would  be 
lying  if  Iwastosay  I  knew  anything  about  pearl-fish- 
ing.  I've  heard  of  it  of  course  ;  who  hasn't  ?  And, 
for  the  matter  of  that,  I've  had  on  a  diving-suit  my- 
self, and  gone  down  and  examined  a  ship's  bottom  to 
see  if  the  divers  that  had  been  sent  down  to  look  at 
some  started  plates  had  brought  up  a  true  report. 
But  I've  never  done  more  than  pass  through  those 
North  Australian  seas.  They  tell  me  the  pearl-fish- 
ing's done  from  small  luggers  of  some  ten  or  four- 
teen tons,  sailing  out  of  Thursday  Island." 

"  It  is,"  said  the  big  man.     "  And " 

"  Well,  sir,  you'd  better  get  another  captain.  I'm 
a  steamer  sailor  by  bringing  up,  and  on  a  steamer  I 
know  my  business,  and  can  do  it  with  any  other  man 
alive.  But  you'd  not  find  me  much  good  on  a  little 
wind-jammer  like  a  Thursday  Island  pearler.  I'm  a 
hard-up  man,  Mr.  Carnforth,  and  desperately  in  want 
of  a  berth  ;  I  hope,  too,  you'll  not  think  it  undue 
familiarity  when  I  say  that  I  like  you  personally  ; 
but,  honestly,  I  don't  think  you'd  better  engage  me 
as  your  skipper  for  this  trip.  You  could  get  a  so 
much  better  man  for  your  money." 

Carnforth  laughed.  "  My  dear  Kettle,"  he  said, 
"  I  don't  think  I  ever  came  across  a  fellow  with  less 

H7 


148  ADVENTURES   OF   CAPTAIN   KETTLE. 

real  notion  of  looking  after  his  own  interests.  As 
you  are  aware,  I  know  your  peculiar  qualifications 
pretty  thoroughly  ;  I'm  an  eminently  practical  busi- 
ness man  :  1  offer  you  a  handsome  salary  with  both 
eyes  open  ;  and  yet  you  refuse  because  you  are  afraid 
of  robbing  me  of  my  money." 

♦•  Mr.  Carnforth,"  said  the  little  sailor  stiffly,  "  I 
have  my  own  ideas  of  what's  right.  You  have  seen 
me  at  sea  using  violence  and  ugly  words.  But  you 
will  kindly  remember  that  I  was  in  service  of  an  em- 
ployer then,  and  was  earning  his  pay  by  driving  his 
crew.  It's  another  thing  now ;  we  are  ashore  here, 
and  I  would  have  you  know  that  ashore  I  am  a  strict 
chapel  member,  with  a  high-pressure  conscience,  and 
a  soul  that  requires  careful  looking  after.  I  could 
never  forgive  myself  if  I  thought  I  was  taking  your 
pay  without  earning  it  thoroughly." 

"If  you'll  let  me  get  a  word  in  edgeways,"  said 
the  other  irritably,  "  and  not  be  so  beastly  cocksure 
that  you  can  rob  me — which  you  could  no  more  do 
than  fly — perhaps  you'd  understand  what  I'm  offer- 
ing, and  not  sneeze  at  a  good  chance.  The  lugger 
is  your  own  invention,  and  so  is  the  idea  that  I'm 
merely  going  pearl-fishing  in  the  ordinary  way.  My 
notion  is  to  go  pearl-poaching,  which  is  a  very  dif- 
ferent matter ;  to  get  rich  quick,  and  take  the  risks, 
and  climb  over  them  and  to  go  at  the  business  in  a 
steamer  with  a  strong  enough  crew  to — ar — do 
what's  needful." 

"And  you're  already  a  rich  man,"  said  Kettle, 
"with  a  fine  position  in  the  country,  and  a  seat  in 
Parliament.  Some  people  never  do  know  when 
they're  well  off." 


THE   PEARL  POACHERS.  I49 

*'  Some  people  don't,"  said  Carnforth,  "  and  you're 
another  of  them,  skipper.  For  myself,  I  do  a  mad 
thing  now  and  again  because — oh,  because  1  like 
the  excitement  and  flurry  of  it.  But  you  ! — You  go 
and  refuse  a  profitable  billet  that  would  fit  you 
down  to  the  boots,  merely  for  the  sake  of  a  whim. 
A  quarter  of  an  hour  ago  you  told  me  you  were 
practically  destitute — ar — '  on  the  streets'  your  own 
words  were;  and  here  you  are  chucking  up  a  certain 
twenty  pounds  a  month,  and  a  possible  ninety,  when 
it's  ready  to  your  hand." 

**  I  didn't  know  about  the  steamer,"  said  Kettle, 
"  and  that's  a  fact." 

"  Well,  I'm  telling  you  now.  Captain,  and  if  you 
don't  take  charge  of  her  upper  bridge,  it  will  be 
your  own  fault.  Why,  man,  there  isn't  a  job  be- 
tween here  and  New  Jerusalem  that  would  suit  you 
better ;  and  besides,  I'm  keen  to  go  there  myself, 
and  you  are  the  one  man  in  the  world  I  want  to 
have  as  a  shipmate,  and  I  ask  you  to  come  as  a  per- 
sonal favour. 

"  I'm  sick  of  this  smug,  orderly,  frock  coated  life 
here.  Nature  intended  me  for  a  pirate,  and  fate  has 
made  me  a  successful  manufacturer.  I've  tasted 
the  wild  unregenerate  life  of  the  open  air  once  under 
your  auspices,  and  rubbed  against  men  who  were 
men,  and  I  want  to  be  there  again.  I'm  tired  of 
fiddling  amongst  men  and  women  who  are  merely 
dollar-millers  and  dress-pegs.  I'm  sick  of  what  they 
call  success.  I'm  sick  of  the  whole  blessed  busi- 
ness." 

Captain  Kettle  thought  of  Mrs.  Kettle  and  her 
children  in  the  squalid  house  in  South  Shields,  with 


I50  ADVENTURES  OF  CAPTAIN  KETTLE. 

the  slender  income  and  the  slim  prospects,  and  he 
sighed  drearily.  But  he  did  not  utter  those  thoughts 
aloud.  He  said,  instead,  that  he  was  very  grateful 
to  Mr.  Carnforth  for  his  magnificent  offer,  and  would 
do  his  best  to  earn  thoroughly  the  lavish  income 
which  was  held  out  to  him. 

Carnforth  reached  out  and  gripped  his  hand. 

"  Thanky,  Kettle,"  he  said  ;  "  and  mind,  I'm  going 
to  try  and  lug  you  into  a  competency  over  this. 
You  might  just  as  well  have  given  way  before.  I 
always  get  my  own  way  over  this  sort  of  thing.  And 
now  probably  you'd  like  to  hear  a  bit  more  about 
the  poaching  ground  ?" 

"  If  you  please,  sir." 

"  Well,  I  can't  quote  you  latitude  and  longitude 
off-hand,  but  I'll  show  you  the  whereabouts  of  the 
place  marked  on  the  chart  afterwards.  It's  Japan 
way,  and  the  Japs  have  chosen  to  claim  all  the  bits 
of  reefs  thereabouts,  and  to  proclaim  a  sort  of  close 
season  against  all  foreign  pearlers.  Now  the  place 
I've  got  news  of  is  in  their  area,  but  so  far  it  has 
never  been  fished.  It's  enormously  rich,  and  it's 
absolutely  virgin.  Why,  man,  if  we  can  put  in  six 
months'  work  there  undisturbed,  we  can  easily  carry 
off  a  million  pounds'  worth  of  shells  and  pearls." 

"  Six  months  !  "  said  Kettle.  "  That's  a  big  order. 
I've  no  doubt  that  with  a  decent  steamer  and  a  few 
rifles  we  could  beat  off  one  of  their  gunboats  when 
we  get  there,  and  do,  say,  a  week's  fishing.  But  if 
that  gunboat  steams  back  to  Nagasaki,  or  wherever 
her  port  is,  and  brings  out  a  whole  blessed  navy  at 
her  heels,  we  may  find  the  contract  outside  our  size. 
Of  course,  if  you  are  going    to    fit  out  a  real  big 


THE   PEARL   POACHERS.  15I 

steamboat,  with  a  gun  or  two,  and  a  hundred 
men " 

Carnforth  laughed.  "Wait  a  bit,"  said  he. 
"  You're  going  ahead  too  fast.  There's  no  question 
of  fighting  a  whole  navy.  In  fact  we  mustn't  fight 
at  all  if  there's  any  means  of  wriggling  out  of  it.  I 
believe  fighting  would  amount  to  piracy,  and  piracy's 
too  lively  even  for  my  tastes.  Besides,  if  we  got 
very  noisy,  we'd  have  some  cruiser  of  the  British 
China  Squadron  poking  her  ugly  nose  in,  and  that's 
a  thing  we  couldn't  afford  to  risk  at  any  price." 

"  Then  how  are  you  going  to  manage  it  ?  " 

"  What  we  must  hope  for  is  to  be  left  undisturbed. 
There's  every  chance  of  it.  The  reef  is  out  of  all 
the  steam-lanes  and  circle  tracks,  and  the  Japs*  gun- 
boat patrol  is  not  very  close.  In  fact  the  place  has 
only  been  newly  charted.  It  was  found  quite  by 
accident  by  the  skipper  of  a  sea-sealing  schooner, 
and  he  missed  the  plum  because  he  happened  to 
have  been  a  brute  to  one  of  his  hands." 

"  But  I  thought  you  said  this  reef  was  out  of  all 
ship  tracks?  " 

"  Don't  hustle  me.  The  schooner  had  been  seal- 
ing off  the  Commander  Islands.  She  was  coming 
home,  and  got  into  heavy  weather.  She  was  blown 
away  three  days  by  a  gale,  and  picked  up  the  surf 
of  this  reef  one  morning  at  daybreak,  ran  down  in- 
to the  lee,  and  lay  there  till  the  breeze  was  over. 
The  reef  wasn't  charted  and  the  skipper,  who  was 
*on  the  make,'  wondered  how  he  could  gather 
dividends  out  of  it.  In  the  off-sealing  season  he 
was  in  the  Thursday  Island  trade,  and  his  thoughts 
naturally  ran  upon  pearls  and  shell.     He'd  a  diving 


152  ADVENTURES   OF  CAPTAIN   KETTLE. 

suit  on  board,  and  he  rowed  into  the  lagoon,  made 
one  of  his  crew  put  on  the  suit,  and  sent  him 
dowa. 

"  Now  observe  the  result,"  said  Carnforth  with 
sly  relish,  "  of  being  too  severe  on  one's  hands. 
This  sailor,  who  was  sent  down  in  the  diving-suit, 
had  been  having  a  dog's  time  of  it  on  the  sealing 
schooner,  and  when  he  got  on  the  floor  of  the  la- 
goon and  saw  the  place  round  him  literally  packed 
with  shell  that  had  never  been  touched  by  hu- 
man fingers,  he  made  up  his  mind  that  the  time 
had  come  to  repay  old  scores.  So  when  he  came 
up  out  of  the  water  again,  he  said,  sulkily  enough, 
that  there  was  nothing  below  but  seaweed  and 
mud  ;  and  the  boat  rowed  back  out  of  the  lagoon  ; 
and  the  schooner  let  draw  her  forestay-sail  sheet  and 
ran  away  on  her  course. 

"  The  skipper  reported  the  new  reef,  and  in  due 
course  it  got  on  the  charts  ;  and  the  sailor  kept 
holding  his  tongue  till  he  could  find  a  market  for 
his  information.  He  didn't  find  one  at  once  ;  he  had 
to  wait  two  years,  in  fact ;  and  then  he  found  me. 
I  guess  that  skipper  would  be  easier  on  his  hands  in 
future  if  he  only  knew  what  he'd  lost,  eh,  Kettle  ?  " 

The  sailor  frowned. 

"  A  shipmaster,  sir,  has  to  get  the  full  amount  of 
work  out  of  his  hands,  or  he's  neglecting  his  duty. 
I  can  picture  that  schooner,  Mr.  Carnforth,  and  I 
picture  her  Old  Man  hearing  what  he's  missed,  and 
still  carrying  on  the  driving  game.  The  things  we 
have  to  ship  as  sailors  are  beasts,  and  you  have  to 
treat  them  as  such  ;  and  if  you  can  show  me  a  mas- 
ter who's  popular  in  the  forecastle,  I  can  show  you 


THE  PEARL  POACHERS.  1 53 

a  man  who's  letting  his  hands  shirk  work,  and  not 
earning  his  owner's  pay." 

"  H'm  !  "  said  Carnforth.  "  I've  seen  you  handle 
a  crew,  and  I  know  your  theories  and  little  ways, 
and  I  know  also  that  you're  far  too  obstinate  an 
animal  to  change  your  opinions  in  a  hurry.  I've  a 
pretty  strong  will  myself,  and  so  I  can  sympathise 
with  you.  However,  we'll  let  that  matter  of  ethics 
slide  for  the  present,  and  go  into  the  question  of 
ways  and  means  " — and  on  the  dry  detail  of  this 
they  talked  till  far  into  the  night. 

Here,  however,  the  historian  may  for  awhile  with- 
hold his  pen,  since  those  in  the  shipping  interest 
can  fill  the  gap  for  themselves,  whilst  to  all  others, 
these  small  questions  of  ways  and  means  would  be 
infinitely  tedious. 

The  yacht's  voyage  out  to  Japanese  waters  may 
also  be  omitted.  The  English  papers  announced 
its  commencement  in  one  of  the  usual  formal  para- 
graphs:  ''Mr.  Martin  Carnforthy  M,  P.  for  the 
Munro  division  of  Yorkshire,  has  started  in  his  fine 
steam  yacht,  the  Vestris,  for  a  lettgthened  tour  in 
China  seas  to  study  Oriental  questions  on  the  spot,  and 
will  probably  be  absent  some  considerable  time'' 

The  official  log  kept  on  board  was  meagre  and 
scanty,  being  confined  to  arid  statements  of  dis- 
tances run,  and  the  ordinary  meteorological  happen- 
ings of  the  ocean  ;  and  towards  the  latter  entries, 
even  these  were  skilfully  fictitious.  Indeed,  when 
the  vessel  ncared  the  scene  of  action,  her  yellow 
funnel  changed  to  black  with  a  crimson  band,  a 
couple  of  squarish  yards  were  crossed  on  her  fore* 


154  ADVENTURES   OF  CAPTAIN  KETTLE. 

mast,  her  dainty  gaff-sails  vanished  and  were  re* 
placed  by  serviceable  trysails,  and  the  midship  house 
was  soiled  by  the  addition  of  a  coat  of  crude  white 
lead  above  the  trimly  polished  teak,  and  straddled 
over  by  a  clumsy  iron  bridge  defended  by  ill  fitting 
canvas  dodgers  and  awnings. 

There  was  no  making  the  expert  believe,  of  course, 
that  she  was  a  mere  trader  that  had  always  been  a 
trader.  But  to  the  nautical  eye  she  was  unsuspi- 
cious: she  looked  one  of  those  ex-yachts  that  have 
been  sold  out  of  the  petticoat-cruising  service  of 
Cowes,  and  been  adapted  to  the  more  homely  needs 
of  the  mercantile  marine  ;  and  in  the  Mediterranean, 
the  Australian  seas,  and  China  waters,  there  are 
many  of  this  breed  of  craft  making  a  humble  living 
for  their  owners.  A  couple  of  weeks'  neglect  will 
make  any  brass-work  look  un-yachtlike,  and  a  little 
withholding  of  the  paint-brush  soon  makes  all  small 
traders  wonderfully  kin. 

Re-christening  of  course  is  but  a  clumsy  device, 
and  one  which  is  (the  gentle  novelist  notwithstand- 
ing) most  seldom  used.  A  ship  at  her  birth  is  given 
a  name,  and  endowed  with  a  passport  in  the  shape 
of  "  papers."  Without  her  papers  she  cannot  enter 
a  civilised  port  ;  she  could  not  "  clear  "  at  any  cus- 
tom house ;  and  to  attempt  doing  so  would  be  a 
blatant  confession  of  "  something  wrong."  So  when 
the  paint  brushes  went  round,  and  the  name  Vestris 
on  counter,  boats,  and  lifebuoys  was  exchanged  for 
Governor  L.  C.  Walthrop  (which  seemed  to  carry  a 
slight  American  flavor)  a  half  sigh  went  up  from 
some  of  the  ship's  company,  and  a  queer  little  thrill 
passed  through  the  rest,  according  to  their  tempera- 


THE   PEARL   POACHERS.  1 55 

ments.  They  were  making  themselves  sea  pariahs 
from  that  moment  onwards,  until  they  should  deem 
fit  to  discard  the  alias. 

Captain  Kettle  himself  finished  lettering  the  last 
of  the  lifebuoys  and  put  down  his  brush,  and  shook 
his  head. 

Carnforth  was  watching  him  from  a  deck  chair. 
"  You  don't  like  it  ?  "  he  said. 

"  I  never  did  such  a  thing  before,"  said  Kettle, 
*'  and  I  never  heard  of  it  being  done  and  come  to 
any  good.  We're  nobodies  now,  and  it's  every  one's 
business  to  meddle  with  a  nobody.  If  you're  a 
somebody,  only  the  proper  people  can  interfere." 

"  I  can't  help  it,"  said  Carnforth.  "  The  Vestris 
is  well-known  at  home,  and  I'm  well-known  too ; 
and  we've  just  got  to  see  this  business  through  one 
way  or  the  other,  under  pursers'  names.  She's  the 
Governor  L.  C.  Walthrop,  and  I'm  Mr.  Martin,  and 
you  can  be  what  you  like." 

"  I'll  still  use  my  own  name,  sir.  I've  carried  it 
a  good  many  years  now,  through  most  kinds  of 
weather;  and  it's  had  so  many  stones  thrown  at  it 
that  a  few  more  won't  hurt.  If  we  get  through 
with  this  little  game,  all  right;  if  we  get  interrupted, 
I  guess  the  only  thing  left  will  be  to  attend  our 
own  funerals.  I'm  not  going  to  taste  the  inside  of 
a  Japanese  gaol  at  any  price." 

"  I  never  saw  such  a  fellow  as  you  for  looking  at 
the  gloomy  side  of  things,"  said  Carnforth  irritably. 

"  It's  the  gloomy  side  that's  mostly  come  my 
way,  sir." 

"  I  wish  to  goodness  I'd  never  been  idiot  enough 
to  come  out  here  on  this  harebrained  scheme." 


156  ADVENTURES  OF  CAPTAIN  KETTLE. 

"  Why !  "  said  Kettle  in  surprise,  "  you've  got  the 
remedy  to  your  hand.  You  give  your  orders,  Mr. 
Carnforth,  and  I'll  bout-ship  this  minute  and  take 
you  home." 

"  And  don't  you  want  to  go  through  with  it, 
skipper  ?  " 

"  I  don't  see  my  tastes  need  be  mentioned,"  said 
the  sailor  stiffly.  "  You  are  my  owner,  sir.  I'm 
here  to  do  as  I'm  bid." 

'*  Captain  Owen  Kettle,"  said  the  other,  with  a 
laugh  that  had  got  some  sour  earnest  at  the  back  of 
it,  "you're  a  cantankerous  little  beggar.  I  sailed 
with  you  before,  and  found  you  the  most  delightful 
of  shipmates.  I  sail  with  you  now,  and  you  keep 
me  always  at  boat-hook's  length  away. from  you. 
Be  hanged  if  I  see  what  I've  done  to  stiffen  you." 

"  Sir,"  said  Kettle,  "  on  the  Sultan  of  Borneo  you 
were  my  guest;  on  this  yacht  you  are  my  owner; 
there's  all  the  difference  in  the  world." 

"You  wish  to  point  out,  I  suppose,  that  a  ship- 
master looks  upon  an  owner  as  his  natural  enemy, 
as  he  does  the  Board  of  Trade.  Still,  I  don't  think 
I  personally  have  deserved  that." 

"  I  am  as  I  have  been  made,  sir,  and  I  suppose  I 
can't  help  it." 

"  You  are  a  man  with  some  wonderfully  developed 
weaknesses.  However,  as  to  going  back,  I'm  not 
going  to  stultify  myself  by  doing  that  now.  We'll 
see  the  thing  through  now,  whatever  happens." 

Martin  Carnforth  nodded  curtly,  and  got  up  and 
walked  the  deck.  He  was  conscious  of  a  fine  sense 
of  disappointment  and  disillusionment.  He  had 
started  off  on  this  expedition  filled  with  a  warm 


THE   PEARL  POACHERS.  157 

glow  of  romance.  He  had  been  grubbing  along  at 
distasteful  business  pursuits  for  the  larger  part  of 
his  life,  and  adventure,  as  looked  at  from  the  out- 
side, had  always  lured  him  strongly.  Once  in  Ket- 
tle's company  he  had  tasted  of  the  realities  of  ad- 
venture amongst  Cuban  revolutionists ;  had  got 
back  safely,  and  settled  down  to  business  again  for 
a  time  ;  and  then  once  more  had  grown  restless. 
He  had  the  virus  of  adventure  in  his  blood,  and  he 
was  beginning  to  learn  that  it  was  a  cumulative 
poison. 

So,  once  more  he  had  started  off,  but  this  time 
he  was  being  chilled  from  the  outside.  Properly 
treated,  the  prospects  of  the  trip  would  have  been 
rosy  enough.  Handled  by  Captain  Owen  Kettle, 
the  whole  affair  was  made  to  assume  the  aspect  of  a 
commercial  speculation  of  more  than  doubtful  sanity. 
And,  as  he  walked,  he  cursed  Kettle  from  his  in- 
most heart  for  bringing  him  to  earth  and  keeping 
him  there  amongst  sordid  considerations. 

The  little  mariner  himself  was  seated  in  a  deck- 
chair  under  an  awning,  turning  in  the  frayed  sleeve 
of  a  white  drill  jacket.  His  sewing  tackle  stood  in  a 
pictured  tin  biscuit  box  on  the  deck  beside  him. 
He  unripped  the  old  stitches  with  a  pocket-knife, 
and  resewed  the  sleeve  with  exquisite  accuracy  and 
neatness.  His  fierce  eyes  were  intent  on  the  work. 
To  look  at  his  nimble  fingers,  one  would  think  that 
they  had  never  held  anything  more  deadly  than  the 
ordinary  utensils  of  tailoring.  Carnforth  broke  off 
his  walk,  and  stood  for  a  moment  beside  him. 

"  Skipper,"  he  said,  "  you're  a  queer  mixture. 
You've  lived  one  of  the  most  exciting  lives  any  man's 


158  ADVENTURES  OF  CAPTAIN  KETTLE. 

ever  gone  through,  and  yet  you  seem  to  turn  your 
more  peaceful  moments  to  tailoring  or  poetry  indif« 
ferently,  and  enjoy  them  with  gusto." 

♦'  Mr.  Carnforth,"  said  the  little  sailor,  "  I  guess 
we're  all  discontented  animals.  We  always  like  most 
what  we  get  least  of." 

"  Well,  I  suppose  that's  intended  to  sum  up  my 
character  as  well  as  your  own,"  said  Carnforth,  and 
sat  down  and  watched  the  sewing. 

The  mate  on  the  yacht's  upper  bridge  picked  up 
the  reef  with  his  glasses  that  evening  a  couple  of 
hours  after  sundown.  The  night  was  velvet-black, 
with  only  a  few  stars  showing.  A  sullen  ground- 
swell  rolled  the  seas  into  oily  hills  and  valleys,  and 
the  reefs  ahead  showed  themselves  in  a  blaze  of 
phosphorescence  where  the  swell  broke  into  thun- 
derous surf.  It  seemed  as  though  the  yacht  was 
steaming  towards  the  glow  and  din  of  some  distant 
marine  volcano.  The  watch  below  were  all  on  deck, 
drawn  there  by  curiosity,  and  along  one  bulwark 
the  watch  on  duty  were  handling  the  deep-sea  lead 
At  intervals  came  the  report,  trolled  in  a  minor  key, 
of  "  No  bottom." 

The  engines  were  running  half  speed  ahead,  and 
presently  they  stopped,  and  the  order  was  given  for 
the  yacht  to  lay-to  where  she  was  till  daybreak.  A 
light  breeze  had  sprung  up,  bringing  with  it  a  queer 
slender  taint  into  the  sweet  sea  air. 

For  a  long  time  Carnforth  had  been  snuffling  dili- 
gently. "  I'm  sure  I  smell  something,"  he  said  at 
last. 

"  It's  there,"  said  Kettle.  **  Have  you  ever  been 
In  a  north  country.     Norwegian  port,  sir?" 


THE   PEARL  POACHERS.  1 59 

"  By  Jove !  yes,  skipper.  It's  just  the  same. 
Decaying  fish." 

"  There's  not  another  stink  like  it  on  this  earth. 
You  know  what  it  means  here  ?  " 

*'  I  suppose  some  other  fellows  are  in  the  lagoon 
before  us  and  they're  rotting  out  shell." 

"  That's  it, "said  Kettle  ;  "  and  we're  going  to  have 
our  work  cut  out  to  get  a  cargo.  But  we'll  do  it, 
Mr.  Carnforth,  never  you  fear.  I  suppose  there'll 
be  trouble,  but  that'll  have  to  be  got  over.  We've 
not  come  all  this  way  to  go  back  with  empty 
holds." 

Carnforth  looked  at  the  little  man  slily.  Here 
was  a  very  different  Captain  Kettle  from  the  fellow 
who  had  been  mending  the  white  drill  coat  half-a- 
dozen  hours  before.  He  was  rubbing  his  hands,  his 
eye  was  bright,  his  whole  frame  had  stiffened.  He 
was  whistling  a  jaunty  tune,  and  was  staring  keenly 
out  at  the  phosphorescent  blaze  of  the  breakers,  as 
though  he  could  see  what  was  behind  them,  and  was 
planning  to  overcome  all  obstacles.  An  hour  before 
Martin  Carnforth  had  been  cursing  the  tedium  of 
his  expedition.  A  little  chill  went  through  him 
now.  Before  many  more  hours  were  past  he  had  a 
strong  notion  he  would  be  scared  at  its  liveliness. 
He  had  seen  Captain  Kettle's  methods  before  when 
things  went    contrary  to  his  plans  and  wishes. 

Slowly  the  night  dragged  through,  and  by  degrees 
the  blackness  thinned.  The  Eastern  waters  grew 
grey,  and  the  sky  above  them  changed  to  dull  sul- 
phur yellow.  Then  a  coal  of  crimson  fire  burned  out 
on  the  horizon,  and  grew  quickly  to  a  great  half-dish 
of  scarlet ;  and  then  the  rest  of  the  sun  was  shot  up, 


l6o  ADVENTURES   OF  CAPTAIN   KETTLE. 

as  an  orange  pip  is  slipped  from  the  fingers ;  and  it 
was  brilliant,  staring,  tropical  day. 

For  full  an  hour  the  yacht  had  been  under  weigh 
at  half  steam  with  lead  going,  circling  round  the 
noisy  reefs.  The  place  was  alive  with  the  shout  of 
breakers  and  the  scream  of  seafowl.  Inside,  beyond 
the  hedge  of  spouting  waters,  were  three  small  turtie- 
back3  of  yellow  sand,  and  a  lugger  at  anchor. 

The  water  outside  was  clear  as  bottle-green  glass, 
and  of  enormous  depth.  The  only  entrance  to  the 
lagoon  was  a  narrow  canal  between  the  reefs,  shown 
up  vividly  by  the  gap  in  the  ring  of  creaming  surf. 
It  was  not  likely  that  any  one  from  the  lugger  would 
lend  a  hand  for  pilotage — or  be  trusted  if  they 
offered.  So  Kettle  steamed  the  yacht  to  some  half- 
mile  ofif  the  entrance,  called  away  the  whale-boat,  and 
went  off  in  her  himself  with  a  crew  and  a  couple  of 
leadsmen  to  survey  the  channel.  He  did  it  with  all 
deliberation ;  returned ;  took  his  perch  in  the  fore- 
crosstrees,  where  he  could  see  the  coral  floor  through 
the  clear  water  beneath,  and  conned  the  yacht  in 
himself.  Carnforth  leant  over  the  bridge-end  and 
watched. 

The  coral  floor  with  its  wondrous  growths  came 
up  towards  him  out  of  the  deep  water.  The  yacht 
rolled  into  the  pass  on  the  backs  of  the  great  ocean 
swells,  and  the  reef-ends  on  either  side  boomed  like 
a  salute  of  heavy  guns.  The  white  froth  of  the 
surges  spewed  up  against  her  sides,  and  the  spindrift 
pattered  in  showers  upon  her  deck  planks.  The 
stink  of  the  place  grew  stronger  every  minute. 

Then  she  shot  through  into  a  mirror  of  still, 
smooth  water,  slowed  to  half-speed,  and  with  hand 


THE    PEARL   POACHERS.  l6l 

lead  going  diligently,  steamed  up  to  an  anchorage  in 
sixteen  fathoms  off  one  of  the  sandy  islets.  A  white 
whale-boat  put  off  from  the  lugger,  rowed  by  three 
Kanakas,  and  by  the  time  the  yacht's  cable  was  bit- 
ted, a  man  from  her  had  stepped  up  the  accommo- 
dation ladder,  and  was  looking  about  him  on  deck. 

He  was  a  biggish  man  in  striped  pyjamas,  bare- 
footed, roughly-bearded,  and  wearing  a  crumpled 
pith  helmet  well  down  on  the  back  of  his  head.  His 
face  was  burnt  to  a  fine  mahogany  colour  by  the 
sun,  and,  dangling  over  his  chest  at  the  end  of  a 
piece  of  fine  sinnet,  was  a  gold-rimmed  eyeglass 
which  glittered  like  a  diamond  when  it  caught 
the  sun.     He  touched  his  helmet  to  Kettle. 

"  You've  brought  a  fine  day  with  you.  Cap- 
tain," said  he,. 

"  Rather  warm,"  said  Kettle.  "I  haven't  looked 
at  the  glass  this  morning.  I  hope  it's  going  to  keep 
steady." 

The  visitor  glanced  round  and  sized  up  the  yacht 
and  its  resources.  "  Oh,  I  should  say  it's  likely  to 
for  the  present.  You've  a  nice  little  boat  here,  and 
a  likely  looking  lot  of  men.  You'll  be  having  ten  of 
a  crew  all-told,  Captain,  eh  ?  " 

"  Thirteen,"  said  Kettle. 

"  Humph,  it's  an  unlucky  number.  Well,  Captain, 
if  I  were  you  I  wouldn't  stay  here  too  long.  The 
weather's  a  bit  uncertain,  you  know,  in  these  seas." 

"  We  want  some  pearls  and  shell  before  we 
go." 

"  I  might  have  guessed  that.  Well,  it's  a  nuisance 
from  our  point  of  view,   because  we  thought  we'd 

the   lagoon  to  ourselves,  and  intended  to  skim  it 
II 


1 62  ADVENTURES  OF  CAPTAIN   KETTLE. 

clear  ourselves  if  the  Japs  didn't  interrupt.  But, 
take  the  tip,  Captain,  and  don't  be  too  greedy.  If 
you  stay  too  long,  the  glass  may  fall  suddenly 
and " 

"  Take  care,  my  lad,"  snapped  Kettle,  "  I'm  a  man 
that  accepts  threats  from  no  man  living." 

"  Oh,  all  right,"  said  the  stranger  carelessly.  "  But 
who  have  we  here  ?  "  And  he  stuck  the  glass  into 
his  eye  and  whistled. 

Captain  Kettle  made  a  formal  introduction.  '*  My 
owner,  sir,  Mr.  Martin,  of  New  York." 

"  Humph,"  said  the  visitor  :  "  you  used  to  be 
Carnforth  up  at  Cambridge,  didn't  you  ?  M.  Cam- 
forth,  I  remember,  and  M.  might  possibly  stand 
for  Martin." 

Captain  Kettle  smiled  grimly,  and  Carnforth 
swore. 

"  Bit  of  a  surprise  to  find  you  pearl-poaching,  Carn- 
forth. I  see  your  name  in  the  Australian  papers 
now  and  again,  and  got  a  notion  you  were  something 
big  at  home.     Had  a  bust-up  ?  " 

"  No,"  said  Carnforth.  "  I'm  all  right  there. 
Come  below  and  have  a  drink  and  a  talk.  By  the 
way,  it's  awfully  rude  of  me ;  I  haven't  tumbled 
yet  to  who  you  are." 

"  Never  mind  my  name,"  said  the  visitor  coolly. 
"  I  don't  suppose  you'd  remember  me.  I  was  a 
reading  man  up  there,  and  you  weren't.  You  did 
your  best  to  torment  my  life  out.  I  took  a  big 
degree  and  made  a  fizzle  of  after-life.  You  got 
ploughed  and  became  a  commercial  success.  So 
you  see  we've  little  enough  in  common  ;  and,  besides, 
I  was  here  first,  and  I  resent  your  coming." 


THE   PEARL   POACHERS.  163 

"  Oh,  rubbish,  man !  Come  below  and  have  a 
cocktail." 

"  Thanks,  no.  I  prefer  not  to  be  under  the 
tie  of  bread  and  salt  with — er — trade  rivals."  He 
dropped  his  eyeglass,  and  walked  to  the  head  of 
the  accommodation  ladder.  "  Look  here,  Master 
Carnforth,"  he  said,  "  I'll  give  you  a  useful  tip. 
Clear  out ! "  Then  he  went  down  into  his  whale- 
boat,  and  the  brown  men  pulled  him  back  to  the 
lugger. 

"Curse  that  beggar's  impudence,"  said  Carnforth 
hotly.     "  I  wonder  who  the  deuce  he  is?  " 

"  Maybe  we'll  find  out,"  said  Kettle.  "  I  tried  to 
catch  your  eye  whilst  he  was  speaking.  If  I  had 
my  way,  he'd  be  on  board  now,  kept  snug  till  we 
were  through  with  our  business  here.  He'd  have 
been  a  lot  safer  that  way." 

"  Oh,  no  !  "  said  Carnforth.  **  We  couldn't  have 
done  the  high-handed  like  that  on  the  little  he  said. 
Wonder  who  he  can  be,  though  ?  Some  poor 
beggar  whose  corns  I  trod  on  up  at  Cambridge. 
Well,  anyway  twenty  years  and  that  beard  have 
completely  changed  him  out  of  memory.  However, 
if  he  chooses  to  come  round  and  be  civil,  he  can  ;  and 
if  he  doesn't,  I  won't  worry.  And  now,  Captain, 
— pearls.  The  sooner  we  get  to  work,  the  more 
chance  we  have  of  getting  a  cargo  under  hatches 
and  slipping  away  undisturbed." 

"Right-o,"  said  Captain  Kettle.  "They've  got 
the  other  two  sandbanks,  and,  by  the  stink,  they're 
doing  a  roaring  business.  We'll  bag  this  empty 
one  near  us,  and  set  about  fishing  this  very  hour, 
and  plant  our  shell  to  rot  there.     It'll  smell  a  bit 


164  ADVENTURES   OF   CAPTAIN   KETTLE. 

different  to  a  rose-garden,  Mr.  Carnforth,  but  it'll  be 
a  sight  more  valuable." 

Then  began  a  period  of  frantic  toil  and  labour. 
Every  man  on  board  was  "  on  shares,"  for  it  had 
pleased  Camforth's  whim  to  use  this  old  buccaneer's 
incentive.  Half  of  the  profits  went  to  the  ship,  and 
the  rest  to  the  crew.  Each  man  had  so  many  shares, 
according  to  his  rating.  Carnforth  himself,  in  addi- 
tion to  his  earnings  as  owner,  earned  also  as  an  ordi- 
nary seaman,  and  sweated,  and  strained  like  any  of 
the  hands.  From  an  hour  before  daybreak  to  an  hour 
after  sunset  he  was  away  in  the  boats,  under  the  dews 
of  morn  and  eve,  or  the  blazing  torrent  of  midday 
sunshine.  Every  night  he  tumbled  into  his  bed-place 
dog-tired,  and  exulting  in  his  tiredness.  Every 
morning  he  woke  eager  for  the  fierce  toil.  He  was 
unshaven,  sun-burned,  blood-smeared  from  the 
scratches  of  the  shell,  filthy  with  rank  sea  mud.  But 
withal  he  was  entirely  happy. 

Kettle  toiled  with  equal  vigour,  working  violently 
himself,  and  violently  exhorting  the  others.  Neither 
his  arms  nor  his  tongue  were  ever  tired.  But  he  was 
always  neat,  and  seldom  unclean.  Dirt  seemed  to 
have  an  antipathy  for  the  man,  and  against  his  dis- 
hevelled owner,  he  looked  like  a  park  dandy  beside 
a  rag  picker. 

At  the  other  side  of  the  lagoon  the  white  man 
from  Cam.bridge,  and  a  white  friend,  and  their  crew 
of  ten  Kanakas,  worked  with  similar  industry.  The 
ring  of  the  lagoon  was  some  half  mile  in  diameter, 
with  lanes  of  deep  water  running  through  its  floor 
where  divers  could  not  work.  There  was  no  clashing 
of  the  two  parties.     One  of  these  water  lanes  seemed 


THE  PEARL  POACHERS.  l6$ 

to  set  out  a  natural  boundary,  and  neither  trans* 
gressed  it.  On  each  submarine  territory  there  was 
enough  shell  to  work  on  for  the  present,  and  each 
party  toiled  with  the  same  frantic  energy,  and  spread 
out  the  shell  on  the  sun-baked  sandbanks,  and 
poisoned  heaven  with  the  scent  of  decay.  But 
there  was  no  further  intercourse  between  the  two 
bodies  of  men,  nor  indeed  any  attempt  at  it.  How 
the  others  were  doing,  the  yacht's  party  neither  knew 
nor  cared.  Theirs  was  a  race  against  time  for  wealth, 
and  not  one  striver  amongst  them  all  had  leisure  to 
be  curious  about  his  neighbors. 

In  a  nicer  life,  the  smells  of  the  place  would  have 
offended  them  monstrously  ;  here  they  were  a  matter 
for  congratulation.  The  more  the  putrefaction,  the 
more  the  profit.  They  ripped  the  shells  from  the 
sea,  and  spread  them  upon  the  beaches.  The 
roasting  sun  beat  upon  the  spread-out  shell-fish, 
and  melted  away  their  soft  tissues  in  horrible  de- 
cay. 

The  value  was  all  a  gamble.  Tliere  might  be 
merely  so  much  mother-o '-pearl  for  inlay  work  ;  or 
seed  pearls,  such  as  the  Chinese  grind  up  for  medi- 
cine; or  larger  pearls  of  any  size  and  colou  r  and  shape, 
from  the  humble  opalescent  sphere  worth  its  meagre 
half-a-crown,  to  the  black  pearl  worth  its  score  of 
pounds,  or  the  great  pear-shaped  pink  pearl  worth  a 
prince's  ransom.  It  was  all  a  gamble,  but  none  the 
less  fascinating  for  that.  Carn forth  was  mad  over 
the  work ;  Kettle,  with  all  his  nonchalance  gone,  was 
nearly  as  bad. 

But  the  process  of  realising  their  wealth  was  none 
too  fast,  and,  in  fact,  seemed  to  them  tedious  beyond 


l66  ADVENTURES  OF  CAPTAIN  KETTLE. 

words.  Every  filled  shell,  with  its  latent  possibilities 
of  treasure  lying  out  there  upon  the  sand,  was  so 
much  capital  left  in  a  perilously  insecure  investment. 
They  were  so  bitterly  afraid  of  interruptions.  The 
dark  shadow  of  Japan  was  always  before  their  eyes. 

Still  at  last  came  the  first  moment  of  realisation. 
They  had  toiled  a  month,  and  they  had  collected 
that  day  the  fruits  of  their  first  day's  labour.  The 
mother-o'-pearl  shell  was  packed  in  the  hold ;  the 
little  crop  of  pearls  stood  in  a  basin  on  the  cabin 
table,  and  they  gloated  over  them  as  they  supped. 

Carnforth  stirred  them  lovingly  with  the  butt  of 
his  fork.     "  Pretty  little  peas,  aren't  they,  skipper?  " 

"  For  those  they  amuse,  though  I  like  to  see  a 
bit  more  colour  in  a  woman's  ornaments  myself. *^' 

"  Matter  of  taste  and  matter  of  fasion.  Pearls  are 
all  the  rage  just  now.  Diamonds  are  slightly  com- 
monplace ;  but  women  will  spend  their  money  on 
something,  and  so  the  price  of  pearls  is  up." 

"  So  much  the  better  for  us,  sir.  It's  a  pity, 
though,  that  some  of  them  seem  a  bit  off  colour,  like 
that  big  grey  chap  for  instance." 

"  Grey,  man  !  Why,  that's  a  black  pearl,  and  prob- 
ably worth  any  ten  of  the  rest  put  together." 

"  Well,"  said  Kettle,  "  I  don't  set  up  for  being  a 
pearl  merchant.  Poaching  them's  trouble  enough 
for  me." 

"  Pass  the  biscuit,  will  you  ? "  said  Carnforth, 
yawning.  "  I  suppose  that  little  lot — is  worth — 
worth — anything  over — a  thousand  pounds,"  and 
with  that  he  dropped  back  dead  asleep  in  his  chair 
with  a  forkful  of  food  in  mid-air.     Captain  Kettle 


THE   PEARL   POACHERS.  167 

fini^ed  his  meal,  but  he,  too,  man  of  wire  though 
he  was,  suddenly  tumbled  forward  and  went  to  sleep 
with  his  head  on  the  table.  It  was  no  new  thing  for 
them  to  do.  They  had  dropped  off  like  this  into 
unconsciousness  more  than  once  during  that  month 
of  savage  toil. 

The  next  day  they  had  a  smaller  crop  ready  to 
glean — a  bare  five  hundred  pounds'  worth,  in  fact. 
But  they  did  not  lament.  There  would  be  an  enor- 
mous quantity  ready  for  the  morrow. 

That  further  realisation  of  their  wealth,  however, 
never  came.  During  the  night  another  lugger  sailed 
into  the  lagoon,  and  upset  all  their  plans.  She  was 
the  consort  of  the  lugger  commanded  by  the  Cam- 
bridge man,  and  she  had  taken  away  to  a  safe  place 
their  first  crop  of  pearls  and  shell.  Further,  she  was 
manned  by  fourteen  whites,  all  armed,  and  all  quite 
ready  to  defend  what  they  considered  their  poachers' 
monopoly.  As  a  consequence,  they  pulled  across 
to  the  yacht  some  two  hours  before  daybreak,  and 
Carnforth  and  Captain  Kettle  found  themselves 
waked  by  three  men  who  carried  Marlin  repeating 
rifles,  and  were  quite  ready  to  use  them  if  pressed. 

But  the  little  sailor  was  not  easily  cowed.  "  By 
James  !  "  he  cried,  "  this  is  piracy  !  " 

"It'll  be  a  funeral,"  said  the  man  with  the  eye- 
glass, "  if  you  don't  bring  your  hand  out  from  under 
that  pillow,  and  bring  it  out  empty.  Now,  don't 
risk  it,  skipper.  I'm  a  good  snap  shot  myself,  and 
this  is  only  a  two-pound  trigger." 

Captain  Kettle  did  not  chuck  his  life  away  use- 
lessly. He  let  go  his  revolver  and  drew  out  his  hand. 
"  Well,"  he  said,  "  what  are  you  grimy  pirates  going 


1 68  ADVENTURES  OF  CAPTAIN  KETTLE. 

to  do  next?     By  the  look  of  you,  you've  come  here 
to  steal  our  soap  and  hairbrushes." 

"  Carnforth,"  shouted  the  man  with  the  eyeglass, 
"  come  in  here  and  be  told  what's  going  to  happen. 
I  say,  you  fellows,  bring  Carnforth  into  the  skipper's 
room." 

Martin  Carnforth  came  into  Kettle's  room  sullenly 
enough,  with  his  hands  in  his  pockets. 

"  Now  I'll  give  you  the  whole  case  packed  small," 
said  the  spokesman.  "  A  crowd  of  us  found  this 
place,  and  discovered  the  pearls  and  the  shell.  We 
were  all  badly  in  want  of  a  pile,  and  we  took  the 
risks,  and  started  in  to  get  it.  Most  of  us  went 
away  with  the  first  cargo,  and  only  two  white  men 
were  left  with  a  few  Kanakas.  Then  you  came. 
You  were  told  you're  not  wanted,  but  you  gently 
hinted  zX  force  majeure^  and  were  allowed  to  stay. 
Finally  the  rest  of  our  crowd  comes  back,  and  it's 
force  majeure  on  the  other  side,  and  now  you've  got 
to  go.  If  you've  the  sense  of  oysters,  you'll  go 
peacefully.  There  isn't  enough  for  all  of  us  ;  at  any 
rate  we  don't  intend  to  share." 

"  Mr.  Carnforth,"  said  Kettle,  "  I  told  you  we'd 
better  have  bottled  that  dirty  man  with  the  window- 
pane  eye  who's  been  talking." 

"  Look  here,"  said  Carnforth  hotly.  "  This  is  all 
nonsense.  We've  got  as  much  right  here  as 
you." 

"  Right !  "  said  the  pearler.  "  Right  had  better 
not  enter  into  the  question.  We're  all  a  blooming 
lot  of  poachers,  if  it  comes  to  that.  You  know  that, 
Mr.  Martin,  or  Carnforth,  or  whatever  you  choose 
to  call  yourself  for  the  time  being.     You  come  here 


THE   PEARL   POACHERS.  169 

under  a  purser's  name,  your  yacht  is  guyed  out  like 
a  Mediterranean  tunny  fisher ;  and  I  guess  you  look 
upon  the  thing  much  as  you  did  bagging  knockers 
and  brass  door-plates  in  the  old  days  at  Cambridge — • 
half  the  fun's  in  dodging  the  bobby." 

"You're  taking  the  wrong  sort  of  tone,"  inter- 
rupted Carnfoth.  "  I'm  not  used  to  being  hectored 
at  like  this." 

"  I  can  believe  it,"  said  the  pearler  drily.  "  You 
are  a  successful  man." 

"  And  let  me  tell  you  this.  You've  got  the  up- 
per hand  for  the  present,  that  I  admit.  You  may 
even  force  us  out  of  the  lagoon.  But  what  then  ?  I 
guess  the  account  would  not  be  closed  ;  and  when 
a  man  chooses  to  make  me  his  enemy,  I  always  see 
that  he  gets  payment  in  full  sooner  or  later." 

"  All  right,"  said  the  man  with  the  eyeglass,  "  pay 
away.     Don't  mind  us." 

"A  hint  at  one  of  the  Japanese  ports  as  to  what 
was  goin'  on  would  soon  upset  your  little  game." 

"  Not  being  fools,"  said  the  pearler  coolly,  "  of 
course  we've  thought  of  that.     We've " 

A  hail  came  down  the  saloon  skylight  outside, 
from  the  deck  above.  "  Scoot,  boys,  scoot !  The 
Philistines   be  upon  us." 

"  What's  that?"  shouted  the  man  with  the  eye- 
glass. 

"  Well,  it's  one  of  those  confounded  Jap  gunboats, 
if  you  want  to  know.  Hurry,  and  we  shall  just  get 
off.     We'll  leave  these  fools  to  pay  the  bill." 

"Humph!"  said  the  pearler,  "that  settles  the 
matter  another  way.  1  must  go,  and  I  suppose 
you'll  try  to  hook  it  too.     Ta,  ta,  skipper ;  you're 


I70  ADVENTURES  OF  CAPTAIN  KETTLE. 

a  good  sort — I  like  you.  By-bye  Carnforth,  can't 
recommend  the  Jap  gaols.  Hope  you  get  caught, 
and  that'll  square  up  for  your  giving  me  a  bad  time 
at  Cambridge." 

He  followed  the  others  out  on  deck,  and  a  mo- 
ment later  their  whale-boat  was  pulling  hard  for 
where  the  luggers  rode  lazily  at  their  anchors. 
Carnforth  and  Kettle  went  after  him,  and  the  en- 
gineers and  the  yacht's  crew,  who  had  been  held 
down  in  the  forecastle  at  rifle's  muzzle,  came  on  deck 
also. 

It  did  not  require  any  pressing  to  get  the  engine 
room  staff  to  their  work.  The  boilers  were  cold  ; 
but  never  were  fires  lit  quicker.  Paraffin,  wood, 
small  coal,  grease,  anything  that  would  burn,  was 
coaxed  into  the  furnace  doors.  The  cold  gauges 
began  to  quiver,  but  as  every  man  on  board  well 
knew,  no  human  means  could  get  a  working  steam 
pressure  under  half-an-hour. 

On  deck  the  crew  had  run  the  boats  up  to  davits, 
had  hove  short  by  hand,  and  then  stood  like  men 
on  the  drop,  waiting  their  fate.  The  luggers  had 
mastheaded  their  yards,  and  were  beating  down  the 
lagoon  against  a  spanking  breeze.  One  after  the 
other  they  tumbled  out  through  the  passage,  and 
swung  on  the  outer  swell ;  and  then,  with  their  lugs 
goose-winged,  fled  like  some  scared  seafowl  out 
over  the  blue  sun-scorched  waters. 

But  though  the  yacht  had  canvas,  Kettle  knew 
that  she  could  not  beat  to  windward,  and  so  dare 
not  break  his  anchor  out  of  the  ground  till  the  en. 
gineers  had  given  her  steam.  There  was  nothing 
for  it  but  to  wait  with  what  patience  they  could. 


THE   PEARL  POACHERS.  171 

The  Japanese  gunboat  had  been  sighted  far  enough 
off,  and,  as  she  was  coming  up  from  the  farther  side 
of  the  ring  of  reefs,  she  had  to  circle  round  them 
before  she  could  gain  the  only  entrance.  Moreover 
her  utmost  paper  pace  was  eight  knots,  and  she 
happened  to  be  foul,  and  so  her  advance  was  slow. 
But  still  to  the  watching  men  it  seemed  that  she 
raced  up  like  a  Western  Ocean  greyhound. 

The  sun  rose  higher.  The  stink  of  the  rotting 
shell-fish  came  to  them  in  poisonous  whiffs.  At 
another  time  it  would  have  spoken  of  wealth 
in  sweet  abundance.  But  now  they  disregarded 
it.  Prison  and  disgrace  were  the  only  things  before 
them,  and  these  filled  the  mind. 

Then  the  chief  engineer  called  up  to  the  bridge 
through  the  voice-tube  that  he  could  give  her  enough 
steam  for  steerage  way  in  another  minute. 

"  Foredeck  there  ! "  cried  Kettle.  "  Break  out 
that  anchor !  By  hand  !  "  And  the  men  laboured 
with  the  hand  gear,  so  as  to  save  the  precious  steam. 
Then  a  thought  flashed  across  Captain  Kettle's  brain 
and  he  quickly  gave  it  to  Carnforth.  "  It's  only  a 
beggarly  chance,  sir,  but  we'd  better  try  it,  I  sup- 
pose ?  " 

"Yes,"  said  Carnforth. 

"If  only  we  hadn't  painted  out  those  names,  we 
might  have  done  it  more  safely.  As  it  is,  we  must 
risk  it.  Off  with  you  below,  sir,  and  get  into  some 
decent  clothes.  You'd  give  the  whole  show  away 
if  you  stayed  up  on  the  bridge  here  in  those  filthy 
rags.  You  may  be  a  yacht  owner,  sir,  but,  by  James, 
you  look  far  more  like  an  out-of-work  coal  trim. 
mer." 


172  ADVENTURES   OF   CAPTAIN  KETTLE. 

Carnforth  ran  down  the  ladder,  and  Kettle  gave 
crisp  orders  to  the  hands  on  deck,  who  disappeared 
also,  and  presently  came  back  dressed  as  spruce 
yachtsmen,  in  white  trousers,  white  drill  jumpers, 
and  straw  hats  ;  and  by  that  time  the  yacht  was 
under  way,  and  steaming  slowly  to  the  pass. 

The  gunboat  was  coming  in  with  her  crew  at 
quarters,  officers  with  swords  on,  and  everything 
cleared  for  action.  The  Japanese  flag  ran  up  to  her 
peak. 

Promptly  an  English  royal  yacht  club  burgee 
broke  out  at  the  poacher's  main  truck,  and  a  British 
blue  ensign  fluttered  up  to  her  poopstaff,  and  dipped 
three  times  in  salute. 

Carnforth  came  up  on  to  the  bridge.  "  Now,  sir,'* 
said  Kettle,  "  you  must  do  the  talking.  I  guess  it's 
got  to  be  lies,  and  lying's  a  thing  I  can't  do." 

"  What  shall  I  say  ?  " 

*'  Say  what's  needed,"  replied  Kettle  concisely ; 
"  and  don't  say  it  wrong.  Remember,  sir,  you're 
lyingfor  your  liberty.  It's  neck  or  nothing.  She's 
got  two  big  guns  trained  on  us,  and  a  shot  from 
either  would  send  us  to  Jones  before  we  could  get 
in  a  smack  in  return." 

"What  ship's  that?"  came  the  hail  in  perfect 
English. 

"  Steam  yacht  Vestris.  Lord  Martin,  owner,** 
said  Carnforth,  who  knew  the  value  of  titles  on  th< 
foreigners.     "  I  am  Lord  Martin.'* 

"  What  are  you  doing  in  here  ?  ** 

"  Been  watching  those  poachers.** 

"  Heave  to  and  explain." 

"  I  shall  do  nothing  of  the  sort,  and  if  you  dare 


THE   PEARL  POACHERS.  1/3 

to  fire  on  me  I  will  bring  the  British  fleet  about  youf 
ears." 

The  Japanese  spokesman  gasped,  and  consulted 
with  a  superior,  and  the  steamers  drew  abreast. 

"  But  you  must  heave  to." 

"  I  shall  do  nothing  of  the  kind." 

"  But  you  are  in  forbidden  waters." 

"  Then  you  should  put  up  a  notice  to  say  so.  I 
shall  report  this  to  my  Admiralty  fn  London." 

"  Go  it,"  said  Kettle,  sotto  voce.  "  For  blooming 
cheek,  give  me  an  M.  P." 

"  But  you  must  stop."  said  the  Japanese,  "  or  I 
shall  be  compelled  to  fire." 

**  You  can  do  as  you  please,"  said  Carnforth.  "  I 
shall  report  you  to  your  commander-in-chief  at 
Nagasaki.  I  never  came  across  such  insolence. 
You  heard  my  name — Lord  Martin.  You'll  hear 
more  of  it  before  long." 

Steam  was  rising  in  the  gauges,  and  the  yacht  was 
getting  into  her  stride  of  twelve  knots.  She  sped 
out  through  the  passage,  and  rolled  in  the  trough  of 
the  glistening  swells  beyond.  The  crew  of  the  war- 
ship still  stood  to  their  guns,  but  the  officers  were  in 
a  dilemma.  These  pestilential  Britishers  always  did 
make  such  a  row  if  any  of  their  vessels  were  fired 
on ;  and  this,  apparently,  was  a  yacht,  though 
grotesquely  unkempt,  and  tricked  out  with  a  black 
and  red  funnel ;  and,  moreover,  she  was  owned  by  a 
peer  of  the  realm. 

A  last  despairing  hail  came  over  the  waters: 
"  Are  you  noble  ?  " 

"  Yes,  haven't  I  told  you  ?  Lord  Martin.  You'll 
know  it  better  when  you're  next  in  port." 


174  ADVENTURES  OF  CAPTAIN  KETTLE. 

And  that  was  the  last  word.  The  gunboat  turned 
and  steamed  out  after  them,  but  her  turning  circle 
was  large,  and  her  speed  slow.  By  midday  she  was 
hull  down  astern ;  by  evening  her  mast  trucks  were 
under  the  water. 

Carnforth  strutted  the  deck  complacently. 
"Rather  a  gorgeous  bluff,  eh,  Skipper?"  he  said  at 
last. 

"  You're  the  only  man  on  this  ship  that  could  have 
done  it,"  said  Kettle  admiringly.  "  It  takes  a  parli- 
amentary education  to  lie  like  that." 

Again  the  silence  grew  between  them,  and  then 
Carnforth  said,  musingly :  "  I  wonder  who  that 
Cambridge  man  was." 

"  He  seemed  to  hate  you  pretty  tenderly." 

"  He  did  that.  I  suppose  I  must  have  played 
some  practical  joke  on  him.  Well,  I  know  I  used 
to  be  up  to  all  sorts  of  larks  in  those  days.  Skipper, 
but  that's  long  enough  ago  now,  and  all  that  sort  of 
foolishness  is  past." 

Captain  Kettle  laughed.  "  Have  you  done  with 
pearl-poaching,  sir?  Or  are  you  going  to  have 
another  try  at  it  ?  But  don't  paint  out  the  name  of 
your  ship  next  time.  If  that  Jap  had  had  the  eyes 
of  a  mole  he'd  have  seen  the  change,  and  he'd  have 
taken  his  chances  and  fired.  Governor  L.  C.  IVal* 
throp  is  no  name  for  an  English  milord's  yacht." 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

THE  LINER  AND  THE  ICEBERG, 

Captain  Kettle  had  been  thanking  Camfoth  for 
getting  him  command  of  the  Atlantic  Viner  Armenia. 
"  But,"  he  went  on,  "  qualifications,  sir,  are  all  my 
eye.  Interest's  the  thing  that  shoves  a  ship-master 
along.  Yes,  Mr.  Carnforth,  interest  and  luck.  I've 
got  qualifications  by  the  fathom,  and  you  know 
pretty  well  what  they've  ever  done  for  me.  But 
you're  a  rich  man  and  an  M.  P. ;  you've  got  interest ; 
you  come  up  and  give  me  a  good  word  with  an  owner, 
and  look,  the  thing's  done." 

"Well,  I  sincerely  v/ish  you  a  long  reign,"  said 
Carnforth.  "  The  Armenia's  the  slowest  and  oldest 
ship  on  the  line,  but  she  was  the  best  I  could  get  the 
firm  to  give  you.  It's  seldom  they  change  their  cap- 
tains, and  they  promote  from  the  bottom,  upwards. 
You've  got  all  the  line  before  you,  Kettle,  and  the 
rest  must  depend  on  yourself.  I'd  sincerely  like  to 
see  you  commodore  of  the  firm's  fleet,  but  you'll 
have  to  do  the  climbing  to  that  berth  by  your  own 
wit.     I've  done  all  I  can." 

"  You've  done  more  for  me,  sir,  than  any  other 
creature  living's  done,  and  believe  me,  I'm  a  very 
grateful  fellow.  And  you  can  bet  I  shall  do  my  best 
to  stick  to  a  snug  berth  now  I've  got  it.    I'm  a  married 

»75 


>76  ADVENTURES   OF   CAPTAIN   KETTLE. 

man,  Mr.  Carnforth,  with  children  ;  I've  them  always 
at  the  back  of  my  memory  ;  and  I've  known  what 
it  is  to  try  all  the  wretched  jobs  that  the  knock-about 
ship-master's  put  to  if  he  doesn't  choose  his  belong- 
ings to  starve.  The  only  thing  I've  got  to  be  fright- 
ened of  now,  is  luck,  and  that's  a  thing  which  is 
«)utside  my  hands,  and  outside  yours,  and  outside 
the  hands  of  every  one  else  on  this  earth.  I  guess 
that  God  above  keeps  the  engineering  of  luck  as  His 
own  private  department ;  and  He  deals  it  out  accord- 
ing to  His  good  pleasure ;  and  we  get  what's  best 
for  us." 

Now  the  S.S.  Armenia,  or  the  old  Atrocity,  as  she 
was  more  familiarly  named,  with  other  qualifying 
adjectives  according  to  taste,  was  more  known  than 
respected  in  the  Western  Ocean  passenger  trade.  In 
her  day  she  had  been  a  flier,  and  had  cut  a  record  ; 
but  her  day  was  past.  Ship-building  and  engine- 
building  are  for  ever  on  the  improve,  and  with  com- 
petition, and  the  rush  of  trade,  the  older  vessels  are 
constantly  getting  outclarsed  in  speed  and  economy. 

So  heavy  stoke-hold  crews  and  extravagant  coal 
consumption  no  longer  made  the  Armenia  tremble 
along  at  her  topmost  speed.  The  firm  had  built 
newer  and  faster  boats  to  do  the  showy  trips  which 
got  spoken  about  in  the  newspapers  ;  and  in  these 
they  carried  the  actresses,  and  the  drummers,  and 
the  other  people  who  run  up  heavy  wine  bills  and 
insist  on  expensive  state-rooms  ;  and  they  had 
lengthened  the  Armenia  s  scheduled  time  of  passage 
between  ports  to  what  was  most  economical  for  coal 
consumption,  and  made  her  other  arrangements  to 


THE   LINER   AND   THE   ICEBERG.  1 77 

match.  They  advertised  first-class  bookings  from 
Liverpool  to  New  York  for  ;Cii  and  upwards,  and 
passengers  who  economised  and  bought  ;i^i  i  tickets, 
fondly  imagining  that  they  were  going  to  cross  in 
one  of  the  show  boats,  were  wont  to  find  themselves 
consigned  to  berths  in  inside  cabins  on  the  Armenia. 

The  present  writer  (before  Captain  Kettle  took 
over  command)  knew  the  Armenia  well.  A  certain 
class  of  passengers  had  grown  native  to  her.  On 
outward  trips  she  was  a  favourite  boat  for  Mormon 
missionaries  and  their  converts.  The  saints  them- 
selves voyaged  first-class,  and  made  a  very  nasty  ex- 
hibition of  manners  ;  their  wives  were  in  the  second 
cabin ;  and  the  ruck  of  the  converts — Poles,  Slavs, 
Armenians,  and  other  noisome  riff-raff — reposed  in 
stuffy  barracks  far  below  the  water-line,  and  got  the 
best  that  could  be  given  them  for  their  contract 
transport  price  of  three-pound-ten  a  head.  Besides 
the  Mormons  (and  shunning  them  as  oil  does  water) 
there  were  civilized  passengers  who  shipped  by  the 
Armenia  either  because  the  cheap  tariff  suited  their 
purses,  or  because  an  extra  couple  of  days  at  sea  did 
not  matter  to  them,  and  they  preferred  her  quiet 
regime  to  the  hurry,  and  noise,  and  dazzle,  and  vibra- 
tion of  the  crowded  and  more  popular  greyhounds. 

On  to  the  head  of  this  queer  family  party,  then, 
Captain  Owen  Kettle  was  pitchforked  by  the  Fates 
and  Mr.  Carnforth,  and  at  first  he  found  the  position 
bewilderingly  strange.  He  was  thirty-seven  years 
of  age,  and  it  was  his  d^but  as  an  ofKcer  on  a  passenger 
boat.  The  whole  routine  was  new  to  him.  Even 
the  deckhands  were  of  a  class  strange  to  his  experi- 
ence, and  did  as  they  were  bidden  smartly  and  effi. 
12 


1 78  ADVENTURES  OF  CAPTAIN   KETTLE. 

ciently,  and  showed  no  disposition  to  simmer  to  a 
state  of  constant  mutiny.  But  newest  of  all,  he 
came  for  the  first  time  in  contact  with  an  official 
called  a  Purser  (in  the  person  of  one  Mr.  Reginald 
Horrocks)  at  whose  powers  and  position  he  was  in- 
clined to  look  very  much  askance. 

It  was  Mr.  Horrocks  who  welcomed  him  on  board, 
and  the  pair  of  them  sized  one  another  up  with  dili- 
gence. Kettle  was  suspicious,  brusque,  and  inclined 
to  assert  his  position.  But  the  Purser  was  more  a 
man  of  the  world,  and,  besides,  he  was  by  profession 
urbane,  and  a  cultivator  of  other  people's  likings. 
He  made  it  his  boast  that  he  could  in  ten  minutes 
get  on  terms  of  civility  with  the  sourest  passenger 
who  was  ever  put  into  an  undesirable  room  ;  and  he 
was  resolved  to  get  on  a  footing  of  geniality  with  the 
new  skipper  if  his  art  could  manage  it.  Mr.  Hor- 
rocks had  sailed  on  bad  terms  with  a  captain  once  in 
the  days  of  his  novitiate,  and  he  did  not  wish  to  re- 
peat the  experience. 

But  Kettle  was  by  nature  an  autocrat,  and  could 
not  shake  down  into  the  new  order  of  things  all  at 
once.  The  Armenia  was  in  dock,  noisy  with  steve- 
dores working  cargo,  when  the  new  captain  paid  his 
first  preliminary  visit  of  inspection.  Horrocks  was 
in  attendance,  voluble  and  friendly,  and  they  went 
through  every  part  of  her,  from  the  sodden  shaft- 
tunnel,  to  the  glory-hole  where  the  stewards  live. 
The  Purser  was  all  affability,  but  Kettle  resented  his 
tone,  and  at  last,  when  they  had  ended  their  excur- 
sion, and  walked  together  into  the  chart-house  on 
the  lower  bridge,  the  little  sailor  turned  round  and 
faced  the  other,  and  put  the  case  to  him  significantly. 


THE   LINER  AND   THE   ICEBERG.  1 79 

"  You  will  kindly  remember  that  I  am  Captain  of 
this  ferry,"  he  said. 

"  You're  Captain  all  the  way,  sir,"  said  Horrocks 
genially.  "  My  department  is  the  care  of  the  passen- 
gers  as  your  deputy,  and  the  receiving  in  of  stores 
from  the  superintendent  purser  ashore ;  and  I  wish 
to  handle  them  all  according  to  your  orders." 

"  Oh,"  said  Kettle,  "  you'll  have  a  pretty  free  hand 
here.  I  don't  mind  telling  you  I'm  new  to  this 
hotel-keeping  business.  I've  been  in  cargo  boats  up 
to  now." 

"  Well,  of  course,  Captain,  a  Purser's  work  is  a 
profession  to  itself,  and  the  details  are  not  likely  to 
have  come  in  your  way.  I  suppose  I'd  better  run 
things  on  much  as  before  to  start  with,  and  when 
you  see  a  detail  you  want  changed,  you  tell  me,  and 
I'll  see  it  changed  right  away.  That's  where  I  come 
in  ;  I'm  a  very  capable  man  at  carrying  out  orders. 
And  there's  another  thing,  Captain ;  I  know  my 
place;  I'm  just  your  assistant." 

Captain  Kettle  pressed  the  bell.  "  Purser,"  said 
he,  "  I  believe  we  shall  get  on  well.  I  hope  we  shall ; 
it's  most  comfortable  that  way."  A  bareheaded 
man  in  a  short  jacket  knocked,  and  came  in  through 
the  chart-house  door,  "  Steward,  bring  a  bottle  of 
whisky,  and  put  my  name  on  it,  and  keep  it  in  the 
rack  yonder ;  and  bring  some  fresh  water  and  two 
glasses — Purser,  you'll  have  a  drink  with  me  ?  " 

"  Well,  here's  plenty  of  cargo,"  said  Kettle,  when 
the  whisky  came. 

"  Here's  plenty  of  passengers  and  a  popular  ship," 
said  the  Purser. 

But  if  Mr.  Horrocks  was  civil  and  submissive  in 


l8o  ADVENTURES  OF  CAPTAIN   KETTLE. 

words  on  the  Armenia,  it  was  because  he  had  mas- 
tered the  art  of  only  saying  those  things  which  are 
profitable,  and  keeping  his  private  thoughts  for  dis- 
closure on  more  fitting  occasions.  When  he  sat  at 
tea  that  night  with  his  wife  across  in  their  little 
house  in  New  Brighton,  he  mentioned  that  the  new 
captain  did  not  altogether  meet  with  his  august  ap- 
proval. "  He's  a  queer  savage  they've  got  hold  of, 
and  no  mistake  this  time,"  said  he  ;  "a  fellow  that's 
lived  on  freighters  all  his  life,  and  never  seen  a  ser- 
viette, and  doesn't  know  what  to  do  with  his  enter- 
tainment money." 

"  Tell  the  firm,"  suggested  Mrs.  Horrocks. 

"  Not  much.  At  least,  not  yet.  He's  new,  and 
so  naturally  they  think  he's  a  jewel.  I'm  not  going 
to  make  myself  unpopular  by  complaining  too  soon. 
Give  this  new  old  man  string  enough,  and  he'll  hang 
himself  neatly  without  my  help." 

"  Like  the  last  ?  " 

"  Oh,  this  one's  worse  than  him.  In  fact  I'm  be- 
ginning to  be  sorry  I  ever  did  get  our  last  old  man 
the  push.  He  was  all  right  so  long  as  I  didn't 
make  my  perquisites  too  big.  But  as  for  this  one, 
I  don't  suppose  he'll  understand  I've  a  right  to  per- 
quisites at  all." 

"But,"  said  Mrs.  Horrocks,  "you're  Purser. 
What  does  he  suppose  you  live  on  ?  He  must  know 
that  the  pay  don't  go  far." 

*'  Well,  he  didn't  seem  to  know  what  a  Purser 
was,  and  when  I  tried  to  hint  it  to  him,  he  just 
snapped  out  that  he  was  Captain  of  this  blooming 
ship." 

"And  then?" 


THE   LINER  AND  THE  ICEBERG.  l8l 

Mr.  Horrocks  shrugged  his  shoulders.  "  Oh,  I 
agreed  right  away.  May  as  well  tickle  a  fool  as  tease 
him,  my  dear.  He  thinks  because  he's  a  splendid 
seaman — and  he  may  be  that,  I'll  admit — he's  fit  to 
skipper  a  Western  Ocean  passenger  boat.  He's  a 
lot  to  learn  yet,  and  I'm  the  man  that's  going  to 
educate  him." 

Now  the  exasperating  part  of  it  was,  that  not 
only  did  this  process  of  "education"  promptly  be- 
gin, but  Captain  Kettle  knew  it.  Never  before  had 
he  had  any  one  beneath  him  on  board  ship  who  had 
dared  to  dispute  his  imperial  will,  and  done  it  suc- 
cessfully. There  was  no  holding  this  affable  purser, 
no  pinning  him  down  to  a  specific  offence.  If  he 
mapped  out  a  plan  of  action,  and  Captain  Kettle 
objected  to  it,  he  was  all  civility,  and  would  give  it 
up  without  argument.  "  Certainly,  sir,"  he  would 
say.  "  You're  captain  on  this  boat,  as  you  say,  and 
I'm  Purser,  and  I  just  know  my  place."  And  then 
afterwards  would  invariably  come  a  back  thrust 
which  Captain  Kettle  could  never  parry. 

There  were  three  long  tables  in  the  saloon,  headed 
by  the  Captain,  the  Purser,  and  the  Doctor  ;  and 
when  the  passengers  came  on  board  at  Liverpool  or 
New  York,  it  was  Mr.  Horrocks  who  arranged  their 
meal  places.  He  had  a  nice  discrimination,  this 
Purser,  and  from  long  habit  could  sum  up  a  passen- 
ger's general  conversational  qualities  at  a  glance. 
He  knew  also  Captain  Kettle's  tastes  and  limitations, 
and  when  that  redoubtable  mariner  had  been  mak- 
ing things  unpleasant,  he  rewarded  him  with  dinner 
companions  for  the  next  run  who  kept  him  in  a 
state  of  subdued  frenzy.     It  was  quite  an  easy  thing 


182  ADVENTURES  OF  CAPTAIN  KETTLE. 

to  do,  and  managed  craftily,  it  -was  a  species  of  tor« 
ture  impossible  to  resent. 

In  fact  it  may  be  owned  at  once  that  as  a  con- 
versational head  to  a  liner's  table,  Captain  Kettle 
did  not  shine.  The  situation  was  new  and  strange 
to  him.  Up  till  then  he  had  fought  his  way  about 
the  seas  in  cargo  tramps,  with  only  here  and  there 
a  stray  passenger  ;  and,  at  table,  professional  topics 
had  made  up  the  talk,  or,  what  was  more  common, 
glum,  scowling  silence  had  prevailed. 

Here,  on  this  steam  hotel,  he  suddenly  found 
himself  looked  up  to  as  a  head  of  society.  His  own 
real  reminiscences  of  the  sea  he  kept  back  ;  he  felt 
them  to  be  vastly  impolite ;  he  never  dreamed  that 
they  might  be  interesting. 

His  power  of  extracting  sweet  music  from  the  ac- 
cordion he  kept  rigidly  in  the  background.  Accor- 
dions  seemed  out  of  place  somehow  with  these  finick- 
ing passengers.  He  felt  that  his  one  genteel  taste 
was  for  poetry,  but  only  once  did  he  let  it  slip  out. 
It  was  half-way  across  the  Atlantic  on  a  homeward 
trip,  and  conversation  had  lagged.  The  Purser's  and 
the  Doctor's  tables  were  in  a  rattle  of  cheerful  talk: 
Kettle's  was  in  a  state  of  boredom.  In  desperation 
he  brought  out  his  sacred  topic. 

At  once  every  ear  within  range  started  to  listen  : 
he  saw  that  at  once.  But  he  mistook  the  motive. 
The  men  around  him — they  were  mostly  Americans 
— thought  that  the  whole  thing  was  an  effort  of 
humor.  It  never  occurred  to  them  that  this  vine- 
gary-faced little  sailor  actually  himself  made  the  sen- 
timental  rhymes  he  quoted  to  them ;  and  when  it 
dawned  upon  them  that  this  was  no   joke,  and  the 


THE   LINER   AND   THE    ICEBERG.  1 83 

man  was  speaking  in  sober,  solemn  earnest,  the  fun. 
niness  of  it  swept  over  them  like  a  wave.  The  table 
yelped  with  inextinguishable  laughter. 

Of  a  sudden  Captain  Kettle  realised  that  he  was 
his  passengers'  butt,  and  sat  back  in  his  chair  as 
though  he  was  getting  ready  for  a  spring. 

In  his  first  torrent  of  rage  he  could  with  gusto 
have  shot  the  lot  of  them  ;  but  to  begin  with  he  was 
unarmed,  and,  in  the  second  place,  passengers  are  not 
crew  ;  and  moreover,  after  the  first  explosion,  the 
laughter  began  to  die  away.  One  by  one  the  diners 
looked  at  the  grim,  savage,  little  face  glaring  at  them 
from  the  end  of  the  table,  and  their  mirth  seemed  to 
chill.  The  laughter  ended,  and  an  uncomfortable 
silence  grew,  and  remained  to  the  finish  of  the  meal. 

During  the  succeeding  meals  moreover  up  till  the 
end  of  the  voyage,  that  silence  was  very  little  en- 
croached upon  at  the  Captain's  end  of  the  middle 
table.  Any  one  who  ventured  to  speak,  had  the 
benefit  of  Captain  Kettle's  full  gaze,  and  found  it 
disconcerting.  Ev^n  to  passengers  on  a  modern 
steam  ferry,  the  Captain  is  a  person  of  some  majesty, 
and  this  one  had  a  look  about  him  that  did  not  invite 
further  liberties. 

That  batch  of  passengers  dispersed  to  the  four 
corners  of  the  earth  from  Queenstown  and  Liverpool, 
and  the  Armenia  saw  them  no  more;  but  news  of 
the  fracas  somehow  or  another  reached  the  head- 
quarters* office,  and  a  kindly  hint  was  given  to  Cap- 
tain Kettle  that  such  scenes  would  be  better  avoided 
for  the  future. 

"  I  quite  know  that  passengers  are  awkward  cattle 
to  deal  with,"  said  the  partner  who  put  it  to  him 


1 84  ADVENTURES   OF  CAPTAIN   KETTLE. 

"but  you  see,  Captain,  we  make  our  living  by  carry, 
ing  them,  and  we  can't  afford  to  have  our  boats  made 
unpopular.  You  should  use  more  tact,  my  dear 
skipper.  Tact  ;  that's  what  you  want.  Stand  'em 
champagne  out  of  your  entertainment  allowance, 
and  they'll  stand  it  back,  and  run  up  bigger  bills 
with  the  wine  steward.  It  all  means  profit,  Cap- 
tain, and  those  are  the  ways  you  must  get  it  for  us. 
We  aren't  asking  you  to  drum  round  for  cargo  now. 
Your  game  is  to  make  the  boat  cheery  and  comfort- 
able for  passengers,  so  that  they'll  spend  a  lot  of 
money  on  board,  and  like  it  and  come  again  and 
spend  some  more.     Tumble?" 

The  Captain  of  the  Armenia  heard,  and  intended 
to  conform.  But,  admirer  of  his  though  I  must  con- 
scientiously write  myself,  I  cannot  even  hope  that 
in  time  he  would  have  shaken  down  fitly  into  the 
berth ;  for  to  tell  the  truth,  I  do  not  think  a  more 
unsuitable  man  to  govern  one  of  these  modern  steam 
hotels  could  be  found  on  the  seas  of  either  hemi- 
sphere. However,  as  it  happened,  the  concession 
was  not  demanded  of  him.  His  luck,  that  cruel,  evil 
fortune,  got  up  and  hit  him  again,  and  his  ship  was 
cast  away,  and  he  saw  himself  once  more  that  painful 
thing,  a  shipmaster  without  employ.  More  cruel 
still,  he  found  himself  at  the  same  time  in  intimate 
touch  with  a  great  temptation. 

The  fatal  voyage  was  from  New  York  home,  and  it 
was  in  the  cold,  raw  spring-time  when  passenger  lists 
are  thin.  The  day  before  sailing  a  letter  addressed 
"  Captain  Kettle,  S.S.Arjjtenia,'*  made  its  appearance 
on  the  chart-house  table.  How  it  got  there  no  one 
seemed  to  know,  but  with  the  crowd  of  stevedores 


THE   LINER  AND   THE   ICEBERG.  1 8$ 

and  others  working  cargo,  it  would  have  been  very 
easy  for  a  messenger  from  the  wharf  to  sHp  it 
on  board  unobserved.  The  letter  was  typewritten, 
and  carried  the  address  of  an  obscure  saloon  in  the 
Bowery.     It  said  : 

•'  There  is  a  matter  of  Iso.ooo  (/"  10,000)  waiting  for  you  to 
earn  with  a  little  phjck  and  exertion.  Yon  can  either  take  the 
game  or  leave  it,  but  if  you  conclude  to  hear  more,  come  here 
and  ask  the  barman  for  a  five-dollar  cocktail  and  he  will  show 
yon  right  inside.  If  you  are  frightened,  don't  come.  We  got 
no  use  for  frightened  men,  we  can  easy  find  a  man  with  more 
sand  in  him  somewhere  else." 

The  little  sailor  considered  over  this  precious 
document  for  the  full  of  an  hour.  "  Some  smug- 
gling lay,"  was  his  first  conclusion,  but  the  sum  of 
money  appyeared  too  big  for  this  ;  then  he  was  half 
minded  to  put  down  the  whole  thing  as  a  joke  ;  then 
as  a  lure  to  rob  him.  The  final  paragraph  and  the 
address  given,  which  was  in  the  worst  part  of  New 
York  city,  seemed  to  point  shrewdly  to  this  last. 
And  I  believe  the  prospect  of  a  scrimmage  was 
really  the  thing  that  in  the  end  sent  him  off.  But 
any  way,  that  evening  he  went,  and  after  some 
difficulty  found  the  ruffianly  drinkingshop  to  which 
he  had  been  directed. 

He  went  inside  and  looked  inquiringly  across  the 
bar. 

The  shirt-sleeved  barman  shifted  his  cigar.  "  Well. 
Mister,  what  can  I  set  up  for  you  ?  " 

'*  You're  a  bit  proud  of  your  five-dollar  cocktails 
here,  aren't  you  ?  " 

The  man  lowered  his  voice.  "  Say,  are  you  Cap. 
tain  Cuttle  ?  " 


l86  ADVENTURES   OF  CAPTAIN   KETTLE. 

"  Kettle !  confound  you." 

"  Same  thing,  I  guess.  Walk  right  through  that 
door  yonder  and  up  the  stair." 

Captain  Kettle  patted  a  jacket  pocket  that  bulged 
with  the  outline  of  a  revolver.  "  If  any  one  thinks 
they  are  going  to  play  larks  on  me  here,  I  pity 
'em." 

The  barman  shrugged  his  shoulders.  "  Don't 
blame  you  for  coming  '  heeled,'  boss.  Guess  a  gun 
sometimes  chips  in  handy  round  here.  But  I  think 
the  gents  upstairs  mean  square  biz." 

"  Well,"  said  Kettle.  "  I'm  going  to  see  ;  "  and 
opened  the  door  and  stumped  briskly  up  the  stair- 
way. 

He  stepped  into  a  room,  barely  furnished,  and 
lit  by  one  grimy  window.  There  was  no  one  to  re- 
ceive him,  so  he  drummed  the  table  to  make  his 
presence  known. 

Promptly  a  voice  said  to  him  :  "  Howdy,  Captain  ? 
"  Will  ye  mind  shuttin'  the  door?  " 

Now  Kettle  was  not  a  man  given  to  starting,  but 
he  started  then.  The  place  was  in  the  worst  slum 
in  New  York.  Except  for  a  flimsy  table  and  two 
battered  chairs,  the  room  was  stark  empty,  and  this 
voice  seemed  to  come  from  close  beside  him.  In- 
stinctively his  fingers  gripped  on  the  weapon  in  his 
jacket  pocket. 

He  slewed  sharply  round  to  make  sure  he  was 
alone,  and  even  kicked  his  foot  under  the  table  to 
see  that  there  was  no  jugglery  about  that,  and  then 
the  voice  spoke  to  him  again,  with  Irish  brogue 
and  Yankee  idiom  quaintly  intermingled. 

"  Sure,  Captain,  I  have   to  ask  yer  pardon  for 


THE  LINER  AND   THE  ICEBERG.  18/ 

keeping'  a  brick  wall  right  here  between  us.  But 
I've  me  health  to  consider,  an'  I  reckon  our  biz  will 
be  safest  done  this  way." 

The  little  sailor's  grim  face  relaxed  into  a  smile. 
His  eye  had  caught  the  end  of  a  funnel  which  lay 
flush  with  the  wall. 

"  Ho?  "  he  said.  "  That's  your  game,  is  it?  A 
speaking-tube.  Then  I  suppose  you've  got  some- 
thing to  say  you  are  ashamed  of  ?  " 

"  Faith,  I'm  proud  of  it.  A  pathriot  is  never 
ashamed  of  his  cause." 

"  Get  to  business,"  said  Kettle.  "  My  time's 
short,  and  this  waiting-room  of  yours  is  not  over 
savoury." 

"  It's  just  a  little  removal  we  wish  you  to  under- 
take for  us.  Captain.  You  have  gotten  a  Mr.  Grim- 
shaw  on  your  passenger  list  for  this  run  to  Liver 
pool  ?  " 

"  Have  I  ?  " 

"  It's  so.  He's  one  of  the  big  bosses  of  you* 
British  Government." 

*'  Well,  supposing  I  have  ?  " 

*'  He's  been  out  here  as  a  sort  of  commission,  and 
he's  found  out  more  than  is  good  for  him.  He  sails 
by  the  Armenia  to-morrow,  and  if  you  can — well — 
so  contrive  that  he  doesn't  land  at  the  other  side, 
it  means  you  are  set  up  for  life." 

Captain  Kettle's  face  stiffened,  and  he  was  about 
to  break  out  with  something  sharp.  But  he  re- 
strained himself  and  asked  instead :  "  What's  the 
figure  ?  " 

*'  $50,000 — say  10,000  of  your  English  sovereigns.** 

*'  And  how  do  I  know  that  I  should  get  paid  ?  ** 


1 88  ADVENTURES   OF  CAPTAIN  KETTLE. 

The  answer  was  somewhat  astounding. 

"  You  can  pocket  the  money  here,  right  now,** 
said  the  voice. 

"  And  once  I  got  paid,  what  hold  would  you  have 
on  me  ?  How  do  you  know  I'd  shove  this  Grimshaw 
over  the  side  ?     That  I  suppose  is  what  you  want  ?  " 

The  voice  chuckled.  "  We've  agents  everywhere, 
Captain.  We'd  have  you  removed  pretty  sharp  if 
you  tried  to  diddle  us." 

"  Oh,  would  you  ?  "  snapped  Kettle.  "  I've  bucked 
against  some  tolerably  ugly  toughs  in  my  time  and 
come  out  topside,  and  shouldn't  mind  tackling  your 
crowd  for  the  sheer  sport  of  the  thing.  But  look 
here,  Mr.  Paddy  Fenian,  you've  get  hold  of  the 
wrong  man  when  you  came  to  me.  By  James,  yes, 
you  skulking,  cowardly  swine  !  You  face  behind  a 
wall !  Come  out  here  and  talk.  I  won't  lift  my 
hands.  I'll  use  my  feet  to  you  and  kick  your  back- 
bone through  your  hat.  You'd  dare  to  ask  me  to 
murder  a  man,  would  you  ?  " 

Captain  Kettle's  eloquence  had  an  unlooked  for 
effect.     The  voice  from  the  speaking  tube  laughed. 

The  sailor  went  on  afresh,  and  spoke  of  the  unseen 
one's  ancestors  on  both  sides  of  the  house,  his  per- 
sonal habits,  and  probable  future.  He  had  acquired 
a  goodly  flow  of  this  kind  of  vituperation  during 
his  professional  career,  and  had  been  compelled  to 
keep  it  bottled  up  before  the  passengers  on  the 
liner.  He  felt  a  kind  of  gusto  in  letting  his  tongue 
run  loose  again,  and  had  the  proud  consciousness 
that  each  of  his  phrases  would  cut  like  the  lash  of  a 
whip. 

But  the  unseen   man  apparently  heard  him  un« 


THE   LINER   AND   THE   ICEBERG.  1 89 

ruffled.  "  Blow  off  steam,  skipper,"  said  he  ;  "  don't 
mind  me." 

Kettle  looked  round  the  empty  room  dejectedly. 
"  You  thing  !  "  he  said.  "  I  could  make  a  man  with 
more  spirit  than  you  out  of  putty." 

"  Of  course  you  could,  skipper,"  said  the  voice 
with  the  brogue  ;  "  of  course  you  could.  I  don't 
really  exist.  I'm  only  a  name,  as  your  beastly 
Saxon  papers  say  when  they  abuse  me.  But  I  can 
hit,  as  they  know,  and  I  can  draw  cheques  as  you 
can  find  out  if  you  choose.  You  can  have  your  pay 
yet  if  you  see  fit  to  change  your  mind,  and  '  remove ' 
spy  Grimshaw  between  here  and  Liverpool.  We've 
plenty  of  money,  and  you  may  as  well  have  it  as 
any  one  else.     It's  got  to  be  spent  somehow." 

"  I'd  give  a  lot  to  wring  your  neck,"  said  Kettle. 
He  tapped  the  wall  to  test  its  thickness. 

"  You  tire  me,"  said  the  voice.  •*  Why  can't  you 
drop  that  ?  You  can't  get  at  me  ;  and  if  you  go  out- 
side and  set  on  all  the  police  in  New  York  city,  you'll 
do  no  good.  The  police  of  this  city  know  which 
side  their  bread's  margarined.  I'm  the  man  with 
the  cheque-book,  sonny,  and  you  bet  they're  not 
the  sample  of  fools  that'd  go  and  try  to  snuff  me 
out." 

"  This  is  no  place  for  me,"  said  Kettle.  "  It  seems 
I  can't  lug  you  out  of  the  drain  where  you  live,  and 
If  I  stay  in  touch  of  your  breath  any  longer,  I  shall 
be  poisoned.  I've  told  you  who  I  consider  your 
mother  to  be.  Don't  forget." — And  the  little 
bearded  sailor  strode  off  down  the  stair  again  and 
into  the  street.  He  had  no  inclination  to  go  to  the 
police,  having  a  pious  horror  of  the  law,  and  so  he 


190  ADVENTURES   OF  CAPTAIN   KETTLE. 

got  a  trolley  car  which  took  him  down  to  the  East 
River,  and  a  ferry  which  carried  him  across  to  his 
SHIP. 

The  time  was  2  a.m.,  and  the  glow  of  the  arc  lamps 
and  the  rattle  of  winch  chains,  and  the  roar  of  work- 
ing cargo,  went  up  far  into  the  night.  But  noise 
made  little  difference  to  him,  and  even  the  episode 
he  had  just  gone  through  was  not  sufficient  to  keep 
him  awake. 

The  master  of  a  Western  Ocean  ferry  gets  little 
enough  of  sleep  when  he  is  on  the  voyage,  and  so 
on  the  night  before  sailing  he  stores  up  as  much  as 
may  be. 

As  it  chanced  Mr.  Grimshaw  took  steps  to  im- 
press himself  on  Captain  Kettle's  notice  at  an  early 
stage  of  the  next  day's  proceedings.  The  ship  was 
warping  out  of  dock  with  the  help  of  a  walking-beam 
tug,  and  a  passenger  attempted  to  pass  the  quarter- 
master at  the  foot  of  the  u^  *^er  bridge  ladder.  The 
sailor  was  stubborn,  but  the  passenger  was  impera- 
tive, and  at  last  pushed  his  way  up,  and  was  met  by 
Kettle  himself  at  the  head  of  the  ladder. 

"  Well,  sir?"  said  that  official. 

"  I've  come  to  see  you  take  your  steamer  out  into 
New  York  Bay,  Captain." 

"  Oh,  have  you  ?  "  said  Kettle.  "  Are  you  the 
Emperor  of  Germany,  by  any  chance?  " 

"  I  am  Mr.  Robert  Grimshaw." 

"  Same  thing.  Neither  you  nor  he  is  Captain 
here.  I  am.  So  I'll  trouble  you  to  get  to  Halifax 
out  of  this  before  you're  put.  Quarter-master,  I'll 
log  you  for  neglect  of  duty." 


THE  LINER  AND   THE   ICEBERG.  IQI 

Grimshaw  turned  and  went  down  the  ladder  with 
a  flushed  cheek.  "  Thank  you,  Captain,"  he  said 
over  his  shoulder.  "  I've  got  influence  with  your 
owners.     I'll  not  neglect  to  use  it." 

It  chanced  also  that  Captain  Kettle  had  been  cut- 
ting down  his  Purser's  perquisites  more  ruthlessly 
than  usual  in  New  York,  and  that  worthy  man 
thirsted  for  revenge.  He  had  taken  Mr.  Grimshaw's 
measure  pretty  accurately  at  first  sight,  and  was  tol- 
erably sure  that  eight  days  of  his  conversation  would 
irritate  his  skipper  into  a  state  approaching  frenzy. 
So  he  portioned  off  the  commissioner  to  the  end 
right-hand  chair  at  the  Captain's  table,  and  promised 
himself  pleasant  revenge  in  overlooking  the  result. 

Captain  Kettle  worked  the  Armenia  outside  the 
bar  and  came  down  to  dinner.  Horrocks  whispered 
in  his  ear  as  he  came  down  the  companion,  "  Mr. 
Grimshaw's  the  man  on  your  right,  sir.  Had  to  give 
him  to  you.  He's  some  sort  of  a  big  bug  in  the  gov- 
ernment at  home  ;  been  over  in  New  York  inquiring 
into  the  organization  of  those   Pat-lander  rebels." 

Kettle  nodded  curtly  and  went  on  to  his  seat. 
The  meal  began,  and  went  on.  Mr.  Grimshaw  made 
no  allusion  to  the  previous  encounter.  He  had  made 
up  his  mind  to  exact  retaliation  in  full,  and  started 
at  once  to  procure  it.  He  had  the  reputation  in 
London  of  being  a  '*  most  superior  person,"  and  he 
possessed  in  a  high  degree  the  art  of  being  cour- 
teously offensive.  He  was  a  clever  man  with  his 
tongue,  and  never  overstepped  the  bounds  of  sua- 
vity. 

How  the  wretched  Kettle  sat  through  that  meal 
he  did  not  know.     Under  this  polished  attack  he 


192  ADVENTURES  OF  CAPTAIN   KETTLE. 

was  impotent  of  defence.  Not  a  chance  was  given 
him  for  retort.  And  all  the  thrusts  went  home. 
He  retired  from  the  dinner-table  with  a  moist  per- 
spiration on  his  face^  and  an  earnest  prayer  that 
the  Armenia  would  carry  foul  weather  with  her  all 
the  way  up  to  Prince's  landing  stage,  so  that  he 
might  be  forced  to  spend  the  next  seven  or  eight 
days  on  the  chilly  eminence  of  the  upper  bridge. 

And  now  we  come  to  the  story  of  liow  Captain 
Owen  Kettle's  luck  again  buffeted  him. 

The  Armenia  was  steaming  along  through  the 
night,  to  the  accompaniment  of  deep  and  dismal 
hootings  from  the  syren.  A  fog  spread  over  the 
Atlantic,  and  the  bridge  telegraph  pointed  to  "  Half 
speed  ahead  "  as  the  Board  of  Trade  directs.  The 
engine-room,  however,  had  private  instructions  as 
usual,  and  kept  up  the  normal  speed. 

On  the  forecastle  head  four  lookout  men  peered 
solemnly  into  the  fog  and  knew  that  for  all  the  prac- 
tical good  they  were  doing  they  might  just  as  well 
be  in  their  bunks. 

On  the  bridge,  in  glistening  oilskins.  Kettle  and 
two  mates  stared  before  them  into  the  thickness, 
but  could  not  see  as  far  as  the  foremast.  And  the 
Armenia  surged  along  at  her  comfortable  fourteen 
knots,  with  five  hundred  people  asleep  beneath  her 
deck.  The  landsman  fancies  that  on  these  occasions 
steamships  slow  down  or  stop  ;  the  liner  captain 
knows  that  if  once  he  did  so,  he  would  have  little 
chance  of  taking  his  ship  across  the  Atlantic  again. 
A  day  lost  to  one  of  these  ocean  ferries  means  in 
coal,  and  food,  and  wages,  and  so  on,  a  matter  of 
£ljOOO  or  so  out  of  the  pockets  of  her  owners,  and 


THE   LINER  AND   THE   ICEBERG.  I93 

this  is  a  little  sum  they  do  not  care  to  forfeit  with- 
out strong  reason.  They  expect  their  captains  to 
drive  the  boats  along  as  usual,  and  make  up  for  the 
added  risk  by  increased  watchfulness  and  precaution, 
and  a  keen  noting  of  the  thermometer  for  any  sud- 
den fall  which  should  foretell  the  neighbourhood  of 
ice. 

Now  the  Armenia  was  skirting  the  edge  of  the 
Banks,  on  the  recognized  steam  lane  to  the  East- 
ward, which  differs  from  that  leading  West ;  and  by 
all  the  laws  of  navigation  there  should  have  been 
nothing  in  the  way.  Nothing,  that  is,  except  fish- 
ing schooners,  which  do  not  rnatter,  as  they  are  the 
only  sufferers  if  they  haven't  the  sense  to  get  out  of 
the  way. 

But,  suddenly,  through  the  fog  ahead  there  loomed 
out  a  vast  shape,  and  almost  before  the  telegraph 
rung  its  message  to  the  engine-room,  and  certainly 
before  steam  could  be  shut  off,  the  Armenia  s  bow 
was  clashing  and  clanging  and  ripping  and  buckling 
as  though  it  had  charged  full  tilt  against  a  solid 
cliff. 

The  engines  stopped,  and  the  awful  tearing  noises 
ceased,  save  for  a  tinkling  rattle  as  of  a  cascade  of 
glass,  and,  "  There  goes  my  blooming  ticket,"  said 
Kettle  bitterly.  "  Who'd  have  thought  of  an  ice- 
berg as  far  south  as  here  this  time  of  year."  But 
he  was  prompt  to  act  on  the  emergency. 

**  Now,  Mr.  Mate,  away  forward  with  you,  and 
get  the  carpenter,  and  go  down  and  find  out  how 
big  the  damage  is."  The  crew  were  crowding  out 
on  deck.  "  All  hands  to  boat  stations.  See  all 
clear  for  lowering  away,  and  then  hold  on  all.  Now 
J3 


194  ADVENTURES   OF  CAPTAIN  KETTLE. 

keep  your  heads,  men.  There's  no  damage,  and  if 
there  was  damage,  there's  no  hurry.  Put  a  couple 
of  hands  at  each  of  the  companion-ways,  and  keep 
all  passengers  below.  We  can't  have  them  messing 
round  here  yet  awhile." 

The  Purser  was  standing  at  the  bottom  of  the  up- 
per bridge  ladder  half-clad,  cool,  and  expectant. 
"  Ah,  Mr.  Horrocks,  come  here." 

The  Armenia  had  slipped  back  from  the  berg  by 
this  time  and  lay  still,  with  the  fog  dense  all  around 
her.  "  Now  it's  all  up  with  the  old  Atrocity,  Pur- 
ser,  look  how  she's  by  the  head  already.  Get  your 
crew  of  stewards  together,  and  victual  the  boats. 
Keep  'em  in  hand  well,  or  else  we  shall  have  a  stam- 
pede and  a  lot  of  drowning.  I'll  have  the  boats  in 
the  water  by  the  time  you're  ready,  and  then  you 
must  hand  up  the  passengers,  women  first.'" 

**  Aye,  aye,  sir." 

"  Wait  a  minute.  If  any  one  won't  do  as  he's  bid, 
shoot.     We  must  keep  order," 

The  Purser  showed  a  pistol.  "  I  put  that  in  my 
pocket,"  said  he,  "  when  I  heard  her  hit.  Good- 
bye, skipper,  I'm  sorry  I  haven't  been  a  better  ship- 
mate to  you." 

"  Good-bye,  Purser,"  said.  Kettle,  "  you  aren't  a 
bad  sort." 

Mr.  Horrocks  ran  off  below,  and  the  chief  officer 
came  back  with  his  report,  which  he  whispered 
quietly  in  the  shipmaster's  ear.  "  It's  fairly  scratch- 
ed the  bottom  off  her.  There's  sixty  feet  gone, 
clean.  Collision  bulkhead's  nowhere.  There's  half 
the  Atlantic  on  board  already." 

"  How  long  will  she  swim  ?  " 


THE   LINER  AND   THE   ICEBERG.  I95 

"  The  carpenter  said  twenty  minutes,  but  I  doubt 
it." 

"  Well,  away  with  you,  Mr.  Mate,  and  stand  by 
your  boat.  Take  plenty  of  rockets  and  distress 
lights,  and  if  the  fog  lifts  we  ought  to  get  picked  up 
by  the  Georgic  before  morning.  She's  close  on  our 
heels  somewhere.  If  you  miss  her  and  get  separated 
make  for  St.  John's." 

"Aye,  aye,  sir." 

"  So  long,  Mr.  Mate.     Good  luck  to  you." 

"  Good-bye,  skipper.  Get  to  the  inquiry  if  you 
can.  I'll  swear  till  all's  blue  that  it  wasn't  your 
fault,  and  you  may  save  your  ticket  yet." 

•'  All  right.  Matey.  I  see  what  you  mean.  But 
I'll  not  going  to  shoot  myself  this  journey.  I've  got 
the  missis  and  the  kids  to  think  about." 

The  mate  ran  off  down  the  ladder,  and  Kettle 
had  the  upper  bridge  to  himself.  The  decks  of  the 
steamer  glowed  with  flares  and  blue-lights.  A  con- 
tinuous steam  of  rockets  spouted  from  her  su- 
perstructure, far  into  the  ipky  sky.  The  main  fore- 
deck  was  already  flush  with  the  water,  and  on  the 
hurricane  deck  aft,  thrust  up  high  into  the  air,  fright- 
ened human  beings  bustled  about  like  the  inhabi- 
tants of  some  disturbed  ant-hill. 

Pair  by  pair  the  davit  tackles  screamed  out,  and 
the  liner's  boats  kissed  the  water,  rode  there  for  a 
minute  to  their  painters  as  they  were  loaded  with 
the  dense  human  freight,  and  then  pushed  off  out 
of  suction  reach,  and  lay  to.  Dozen  by  dozen  the 
passengers  left  the  luxurious  steam  hotel,  and  got 
into  the  frail  open  craft  which  danced  so  danger- 
ously in  the  clammy  fog  of  that  Atlantic  night. 


196  ADVENTURES   OF   CAPTAIN    KETTLE. 

Deeper  the  Armeriias  fore  part  sank  beneath  the  cold 
waters  as  her  forward  compartments  swamped. 

From  far  beneath  him  in  the  hull,  Kettle  could 
hear  the  hum  of  the  bilge  pumps  as  they  fought  the 
incoming  sluices  ;  and  then  at  last  those  stopped, 
and  a  gush  of  steam  burred  from  the  twin  funnels  to 
tell  that  the  engineers  had  been  forced  to  blow  off 
their  boilers  to  save  an  explosion, 

A  knot  of  three  men  stood  at  the  head  of  the  port 
gangway  ladder  shouting  for  Kettle.  He  went 
gloomily  down  and  joined  them.  They  were  the 
Purser,  the  second  mate,  and  Mr.  Grimshaw. 

Kettle  turned  with  a  blaze  of  fury  on  his  suave 
tormenter.  "  Into  the  boat  with  you,  sir.  How  do 
you  dare  to  disobey  my  orders  and  stay  behind  when 
the  passengers  were  ordered  to  go?  Into  the  boat 
with  you,  or  by  James,  I'll  throw  you  there." 

Mr.  Robert  Grimshaw  opened  his  lips  for  speech. 

"  If  you  answer  me  back,"  said  Kettle,  "  I'll  shoot 
you  dead." 

Mr.  Grimshaw  went.  He  had  a  tolerable  knowl- 
edge of  men,  and  he  understood  that  this  ruined 
shipmaster  would  be  as  good  as  his  word.  He 
picked  his  way  down  the  swaying  ladder  to  where 
the  white-painted  lifeboat  plunged  beneath,  finding 
footsteps  with  clumsy  landsman's  dififidence.  He 
reached  the  grating  at  the  foot  of  the  ladder,  and 
paused.  The  lifeboat  surged  up  violently  towards 
him  over  the  sea,  and  then  swooped  down  again  in 
the  trough. 

"  Jump,  you  blame'  fool,"  the  second  mate  yelled 
in  his  ear,  "  or  the  steamer  will  be  down  under  us." 
And  Grimshaw  jumped,  cannoned  heavily  against 


THE   LINER  AND   THE   ICEBERG.  I97 

the  boat's  white  gunwale,  and  sank  like  a  stone  into 
the  black  water. 

At  a  gallop  there  flashed  through  Captain  Kettle's 
brain  a  string  of  facts.  He  was  offered  ;^  10,000  if 
this  man  did  not  reach  Liverpool ;  he  himself  would 
be  out  of  employ,  and  back  on  the  streets  again ; 
his  wife  and  children  would  go  hungry.  Moreover, 
he  had  endured  cruel  humiliation  from  this  man, 
and  hated  him  poisonously.  Even  by  letting  him 
passively  drown  he  would  procure  revenge  and 
future  financial  easement.  But  then  the  memory  of 
that  Irish-American  at  the  speaking-tube  in  the 
Bowery  came  back  to  him,  and  the  thought  of  oblig- 
ing a  cowardly  assassin  like  that  drove  all  other 
thoughts  from  his  mind.  He  thrust  Horrocks  and 
the  second-mate  aside,  and  dived  into  the  waters 
after  this  passenger. 

It  is  no  easy  thing  to  find  a  man  in  a  rough  sea 
and  an  inky  night  like  that,  and  for  long  enough 
neither  returned  to  the  surface.  The  men  in  the 
lifeboat,  fearing  that  the  Armenia  would  founder 
and  drag  them  down  in  her  wash,  were  beginning  to 
shove  off,  when  the  two  bodies  showed  on  the 
waves,  and  were  dragged  on  board  with  boat- 
hooks. 

Both  were  insensible,  and  in  the  press  of  the  mo- 
ment were  allowed  to  remain  so  on  the  bottom  grat- 
ings of  the  boat.  Oars  straggled  out  from  her  sides, 
frantically  labouring,  and  the  boat  fled  over  the  seas 
like  some  uncouth  insect. 

But  they  were  not  without  a  mark  to  steer  for. 
Rockets  were  streaming  up  out  of  another  part  of 
the  night,  and  presently,  as  they  rowed  on  over  that 


198  ADVENTURES   OF  CAPTAIN   KETTLE. 

bleak  watery  desert,  the  outline  of  a  great  steamer 
shone  out,  lit  up  like  some  vast  stage  picture.  The 
other  boats  had  delivered  up  their  freights,  and  been 
sent  adrift.  The  second  mate's  boat  rowed  to  the 
foot  of  her  gangway  ladder. 

"  This  is  the  Georgic"  said  a  smart  officer,  who 
received  them.  "  You  are  the  last  boat.  We've  got 
all  your  other  people  unless  you've  lost  any." 

"  No,"  said  the  second  mate.  "  We're  all  right. 
That's  the  Old  Man  down  there  with  his  fingers  in 
that  passenger's  hair." 

"Dead?" 

"  No,  I  saw  'em  both  move  as  we  came  along- 
side." 

**  Well,  pass  'em  up  and  lets  get  *em  down  to  our 
doctor.  Hurry  now.  We  wanted  to  break  the 
record  this  passage,  and  we've  lost  a  lot  of  time 
already  over  you." 

"  Right-o,"  said  the  Artnenias  second  mate 
drearily,  "  though  I  don't  suppose  our  poor  old 
skipper  will  thank  us  for  keeping  him  alive.  After 
piling  up  the  old  Atrocity ^  he  isn't  likely  to  ever  get 
another  berth." 

"  Man  has  to  take  luck  as  he  finds  it  at  sea,"  said 
the  Georgic's  officer,  and  shouted  to  the  rail  above 
him,  "  All  aboard,  sir." 

"  Cast  off  that  boat !  "  "  Up  gangway,"  came  the 
orders,  and  the  Georgic  continued  her  race  to  the 
East. 


CHAPTER   IX. 

THE  RAIDING  OF  DONNa  CLOTILDE. 

If  any  one  had  announced  in  the  Captains*  Room 
at  Hallett's  that  a  man  could  leave  that  sanctum 
shortly  before  turning-out  time,  and  be  forthwith  kid- 
napped in  the  open  streets  of  South  Shields,  every 
master-mariner  within  hearing  would  have  put  him 
down  contemptuously  as  a  gratuitous  liar.  All 
opinions  in  the  Captains'  Room  were  expressed 
strongly,  and  with  due  maritime  force  of  lan- 
guage. 

The  place  seemed  to  its  frequenters  the  embodi- 
ment of  homeliness  and  security.  There  was  a 
faint  smell  of  varnish  in  the  atmosphere,  and  always 
had  been  within  the  memory  of  the  oldest  habitu6 
and  shipmasters  came  back  to  the  odour  with  a 
sigh  of  pleasure,  as  men  do  return  to  the  neighbour- 
hood of  an  old  and  unobtrusive  friend.  Captains 
met  in  that  room  who  traded  to  all  parts  of  the 
globe,  talked,  and  soon  found  acquaintances  in  com- 
mon. It  was  a  sort  of  informal  club,  with  no  sub- 
scription, and  an  unlimited  membership.  The  hold- 
ing of  a  master's  "  ticket  "  was  the  only  entrance 
qualification,  and  it  was  not  considered  polite  to  ask 
your  neighbour  whether  he  was  at  that  moment  in 

or  out  of  employment. 

199 


200  ADVENTURES  OF  CAPTAIN  KETTLE. 

If  you  were  a  genuine  master  mariner,  but  of  an 
unclubable  disposition,  you  did  not  go  to  the  Cap- 
tains' Room  at  Hallett's  a  second  time  and  always 
made  a  point  of  getting  rather  red  and  speaking  of 
it  contemptuously  when  the  place  was  mentioned 
afterwards.  If  you  did  not  hold  a  master's  ticket, 
even  if  you  were  that  dashing  thing,  a  newly  fledged 
mate,  the  barmaiden  on  guard  spotted  you  on  the 
instant,  and  said  "  that  door  was  private,"  and 
directed  you  to  the  smoke-room  down  the  passage. 

Into  this  exclusive  chamber  Captain  Owen  Kettle 
had  made  his  way  that  day  after  tea,  and  over  two 
modest  half  pints  of  bitter  beer  had  done  his  share 
in  the  talk  and  the  listening,  from  8  till  10.30  of  the 
clock.  He  had  exchanged  views  with  other  ship- 
masters on  cargoes,  crews,  insurances,  climates,  and 
those  other  professional  matters  which  the  profane 
world  (not  in  the  shipping  interest)  finds  so  dreary ; 
and  had  been  listened  to  with  deference.  He  was 
a  man  who  commanded  attention,  and  though  you 
might  not  like  what  he  said,  you  would  not  dream 
of  refusing  to  listen  to  it. 

That  special  night,  however,  Captain  Kettle's 
personal  views  on  maritime  affairs  were  listened  to 
with  even  more  deference  than  usual.  A  large  red- 
haired  man  swung  into  the  Captains*  Room  some 
few  minutes  after  Kettle  had  seated  himself,  and 
after  ordering  his  beverage  and  a  cigar,  nodded  with 
a  whimsical  smile  in  Kettle's  direction,  and  asked 
him  how  he  liked  the  neighbourhood  of  Valparaiso 
as  a  residence. 

"  I  forget,"  said  the  little  sailor,  drily  enough. 

•*  All   right,   Captain,"  said  the    red-haired  man. 


THE   RAIDING  OF  DONNA  CLOTILDE.  20I 

"  don't  you  mind  me.  I  never  remember  too  much 
myself  either.  Only  you  did  me  a  good  turn  out 
there,  although  you  probably  don't  know  it,  and  I'd 
be  proud  if  you'd  have  a  drink  or  a  smoke  with  me 
now  in  remembrance." 

"  You're  very  polite.  Captain." 

"  Don't  mention  it,  Captain,"  said  the  red-haired 
man,  and  struck  the  bell.  "Same?  Half-a-pint  of 
bitter,  please,  Miss,  and  one  of  your  best  fourpenny 
smokes." 

The  general  talk:  of  the  Captains*  Room,  which 
had  halted  for  the  moment,  went  on  again.  One 
worthy  mariner  had  recently  failed  to  show  a  clean 
bill  of  health  in  Barcelona,  and  had  been  sent  to  do 
twenty  days  penance  at  the  quarantine  station, 
which  is  in  Port  Mahon,  Mmorca.  As  a  natural 
consequence,  he  wanted  to  give  his  views  on  Spain 
and  Spanish  government  with  length  and  bitterness, 
but  somehow  the  opportunity  was  denied  him. 
The  red-haired  man  put  in  a  sentence  or  two,  and  a 
question,  and  it  was  Kettle's  views  on  the  matter  to 
which  the  Captain's  Room  found  itself  listening. 

A  salvage  point  was  brought  up  by  a  stout  gentle- 
man in  the  Baltic  timber  trade  who  was  anxious  to 
air  his  sentiments  ;  but  the  red-haired  man  skilfully 
intervened,  and  "  Kettle  on  Salvage  "  was  asked  for 
and  heard.  And  so  on  all  through  the  evening. 
The  red-haired  man  did  his  work  cleverly,  and  no 
one  resented  it. 

Now,  Kettle  was  a  man  who  liked  being  listened 
to,  and  there  is  no  doubt  that  his  vanity  was  tickled 
by  all  this  deference  from  his  professional  equals. 
There  is  no  doubt  also  that  the  smug  security  of 


202  ADVENTURES   OF  CAPTAIN   KETTLE. 

Hallett's  lulled  his  usual  sense  of  wariness,  which 
may  in  part  account  for  what  happened  afterwards. 
And  so,  without  further  excuse  for  him,  it  is  my 
painful  duty  to  record  that  an  hour  after  he  left  the 
Captains'  Room,  the  little  sailor  was  entrapped  and 
kidnapped  by  what,  to  a  man  of  his  knowledge, 
was  one  of  the  most  vulgar  of  artifices. 

He  emptied  his  tumbler,  stood  up,  and  said  he 
must  be  going.  The  red-haired  man  looked  at  the 
round  cabin  clock  on  the  wall  and  mentioned  that 
it  was  his  time  also  ;  and  together  they  went  out- 
side into  the  damp,  dark  main  street  of  South 
Shields. 

"  Going  back  to  your  ship.  Captain  ?  "  asked  the 
big  stranger. 

"  Why,  no,  Captain,"  said  Kettle.  "  I  live  here, 
and  I'm  off  home." 

"  Then  I  suppose  I  must  say  good-night.  Hope 
to  meet  you  again,  though.  What  boat  are  you  on 
now.  Captain?  " 

"  Well,  I'm  putting  in  a  bit  of  a  spell  ashore  just 
now.  Captain.  Fact  is,  I  haven't  come  across  any 
employment  quite  to  my  taste  lately.  'Tisn't  every 
shipowner  I  care  to  serve  under," 

"  No,"  said  the  red-haired  man.  "  They  are 
brutes,  most  of  them.  But  look  here,  Captain, 
there'd  be  no  offence  in  my  getting  you  the  refusal 
of  a  berth,  would  there?" 

Kettle  flushed.  "  Captain,"  he  said,  "  you're 
very  good.  You  see  I'm  married,  with  children, 
and  I've  never  earned  enough  to  put  anything  by. 
Between  men,  I  don't  mind  telling  you  I'm  on  my 
beam  ends.     If  I  can't  get  hold  of  an  advance  note 


THE   RAIDING  OF  DONNA  CLOTILDE.  203 

this  week,  it  will  mean  going  to  the  pawnshop  for 
Mrs.  Kettle's  next  Sunday's  dinner." 

The  red-haired  man  sighed.  "  Well,  Captain,"  he 
said,  "you  needn't  thank  me.  It's  just  my  duty  to 
my  employers  to  put  this  thing  in  your  way.  But 
we'll  not  speak  of  it  here  in  the  open.  Come  along 
off  to  my  steamboat." 

"  Right,"  said  Kettle.  "  Where  have  you  got 
her?" 

"  She's  lying  at  a  buoy  in  the  river.  We  can  get 
a  boat  from  the  steps." 

Nothing  much  more  was  said  between  them  then, 
the  big,  red-haired  man  seemed  indisposed  for  fur- 
ther talk,  and  Kettle  was  too  proud  to  ask  questions. 
Together  they  walked  with  their  short  seaman's 
stride  down  the  wet,  new  streets  of  the  seaport,  and 
Captain  Kettle  made  his  brain  ache  by  hoping  that 
this  would  not  be  another  item  to  add  to  his  long 
list  of  disappointments.  He  had  not  earned  a  day's 
wage  for  six  months,  and  he  was  in  such  straits  for 
want  of  money  that  he  was  growing  desperate. 

They  got  down  to  the  steps  and  took  a  water- 
man's boat,  turned  up  the  piece  of  plank  which  lay 
in  the  stern  sheets,  and  sat  on  the  dry  side,  and  then 
pushed  off  into  the  dark  river.  The  red-haired  man 
picked  up  the  yoke  lines,  and  steered  the  boat 
amongst  the  dense  shipping ;  past  tiers  of  coasting 
schooners,  and  timber  droghers,  and  out-of-work 
clinker-built  tugs ;  past  ungainly  iron  steam  tramps, 
fishing  craft,  dredges,  and  the  other  resting  traffic  of 
the  Tyne  ;  and  finally  rounded  up  under  a  frieze  of 
sterns,  and  ran  alongside  the  gangway  of  a  200-ton 
steam  vacht. 


204  ADVENTURES   OF   CAPTAIN   KETTLE. 

"  Hullo,"  said  Kettle,  "pleasure?" 

"  Well,  hardly  that,"  said  the  red-haired  man. 
"Step  aboard,  Captain,  and  I'll  pay  off  the  water, 
man." 

*'  He'd  better  wait  to  take  me  ashore  again." 

"  No,  let  him  go.  We  may  have  a  long  talk,  ni 
put  you  ashore  in  one  of  my  own  boats  when  you 
go.  Now,  Captain,  here  we  are.  Come  below  to 
my  room." 

"  You've  got  steam  up,  I  see,"  said  Kettle  as  they 
walked  aft  along  the  white,  wet  decks. 

•*  My  orders,"  said  the  red-haired  man. 

"Sail  soon?" 

"  May  start  any  minute.  We  never  know.  My 
owner's  a  rare  one  for  changing  mind." 

"  Huh,"  said  Kettle,  "  might  be  a  woman." 

"  Devilish  like  a  woman,"  said  the  red-haired  man 
drily.  He  opened  a  door  at  the  foot  of  the  compan- 
ion-way, and  turned  an  electric-light  switch.  This 
is  my  room.  Captain.  Step  right  in.  A  drop  of 
whisky  would  be  a  good  thing  to  keep  out  the  cold 
whilst  we  talk.  Excuse  me  a  minute  while  I  go  get 
a  couple  of  tumblers.  I  guess  the  steward's  turned 
in." 

Kettle  seated  himself  on  a  velvet-covered  sofa,  and 
looked  round  at  the  elaborate  fittings  of  the  cabin. 
"  Satin-wood  panels,"  he  commented,  "  nickel  battens 
to  put  the  charts  on,  glass  backed  book-case,  and  silk 
bunk-curtains ;  no  expense  spared  anywhere.  Lord  I 
who  wouldn't  sell  a  farm  and  go  to  sea  ?  But  the 
old  man  said  she  wasn't  pleasure  !  I  wonder  what 
the  game  is?  Contraband,  I  guess  ;  many  a  yacht's 
great  on  that.     Well,  anyway,  I've  got  to  hear." 


THE   RAIDING   OF   DONNA   CLOTILDE.  205 

The  red-haired  man  came  back  with  two  half-filled 
tumblers  and  a  water  jug.  "  Here's  the  poison,'* 
said  he ;  "  mix  it  according  to  your  own  weight." 

"  That's  rather  more  than  my  usual  whack,"  said 
Kettle  eyeing  the  tumbler;  "but  it's  a  cold,  wet 
night,  so  here's — By  the  way,  Captain,  I'm  afraid 
I've  forgotten  your  name  ?  " 

"My  name?"  said  the  red-haired  man.  "Oh, 
yes.     I'm  Douglas,  Captain  Douglas." 

"  Captain  Douglas,"  said  Kettle  thoughtfully. 
**  No,  I  can't  say  I  recall  it  at  present.  Well,  sir,  any- 
way, here's  your  very  good  health  and  prosperity." 

"  Same,"  said  the  red-haired  man,  and  absorbed  his 
whisky  and  water  with  the  dexterity  of  an  artist. 
Out  of  politeness  Captain  Kettle  finished  his  tumbler 
also ;  there  is  an  etiquette  about  these  matters. 

Silence  filled  the  cabin  for  a  minute  or  so,  broken 
only  by  the  distant  clatter  of  a  shovel  on  a  firebar, 
and  Kettle  looked  at  the  cabin  clock.  It  was  half- 
past  eleven,  and  Mrs.  Kettle  would  be  expecting  him 
home.  "  Hullo,"  he  said,  "firing  up?  Oh,  I  sup- 
pose you've  got  to  keep  steam  in  the  donkey  boiler, 
whilst  you're  in  harbour,  to  run  your  dynamo.  By 
the  way,  you  were  talking  about  some  employment 
you  could  put  in  my  way,  Captain  ? "  he  added 
suggestively. 

"  Employment !  "  said  Douglas  uneasily.  "  Oh, 
was  I  ?  Employment !  Yes,  to  be  sure.  Well,  you 
see,  Captain,  it  was  my  owner  I  was  speaking  for, 
and  I've  been  thinking  it  over,  and  perhaps  on  the 
whole  you'd  better  see  her  for  yourself." 

"  Her!  "  said  Kettle.  "  Is  there  a  woman  at  the 
head  of  this  concern  ?  " 


206  ADVENTURES   OP^   CAPTAIN   KETTLE. 

**  A  lady,  call  her.  But  look  here,  Captain,  you're 
getting  sleepy.  Why  not  turn  in  here  for  the  night, 
and  see  her  yourself  in  the  morning?" 

Kettle  yawned,  and  his  head  nodded.  "  I  am 
sleepy  and  that's  a  fact,  though  I  don't  know  why  I 
should  be.  But  it  wouldn't  do  for  me  to  turn  in 
here  for  the  night.  Mrs.  Kettle's  expecting  me  at 
home,  and  I've  never  broken  word  to  her  since  I  was 
married.  I  should  take  it  as  kind,  Captain,  if  you 
could  give  me  some  notion  about  this  piece  of  em- 
ployment now,  so  that  I  could  see  whether  it's 
worth — "  He  yawned  again,  and  struggled  with  his 
heavy  eyelids — "You  must  understand,  please,  Cap- 
tain, that  time  is  scarce  with  me ;  I  must  get  em. 
ployment  at  once.  I  can't  stand  by  and  see  my 
missus  and  youngsters  hungry." 

Captain  Douglas  sv/ore,  and  hit  the  table  with  his 
fist.  "  It's  beastly  hard,"  he  said,  "  and  I  hate  my- 
self for  bringing  you  here." 

"  What's  that  noise  overhead  ? "  said  Kettle. 
"What  are  your  crew  doing  on  deck?"  He  tried 
to  rise,  but  fell  back  stupidly  on  the  sofa.  A  harsh 
bell  clanged  from  somewhere  beneath,  and  the  slop- 
slop  of  water  came  to  him  through  the  yacht's  side. 

"  She's  swinging  round  in  the  stream,  and  some- 
one's rung  *  stand-by '  to  the  engine  room." 

"  Sounds  like  it,"  the  red-haired  man  admitted. 

Again  Kettle  tried  to  rise,  and  with  an  immense 
effort  tottered  to  his  feet ;  but  he  had  been  given  a 
drug  too  powerful  for  even  his  iron  will  to  fight 
against ;  and  he  swayed,  and  then  pitched  helplessly 
sideways  on  to  the  carpet. 

The  last  flickering  gleams  of  consciousness  were 


THE  RAIDING   OF   DCNNA  CLOTILDE.  20/ 

passing  away  from  him,  but  the  truth  of  what  had 
happened  had  flashed  upon  him  at  last.  "  Shang- 
haied," he  murmured  ;  "  by  James,  yes.  Shanghaied, 
that's  what  this  means.  Well,  I  pity  the  man — that 
Shanghaied  me.  By — James — yes."  He  breathed 
stertorously  a  time  or  two  more,  as  though  trying 
to  get  out  other  words,  and  then  dropped  off  into  a 
deathly  stupor. 

Then  the  door  of  the  state-room  creaked  slyly 
open,  and  the  red-haired  man  started  violently. 
He  turned  and  saw  a  tall,  dark  woman  just  crossing 
the  threshold.  "  Donna  Clotilde ! "  he  said  ner- 
vously. "  I  thought  you  were  ashore.  Then  it  wa.«5 
by  your  orders " 

"  That  the  yacht  was  got  under  way  !  Si,  Senor. 
I  saw  you  coming  on  board  with  the  man  we  have 
been  hunting  for  these  last  two  years,  and  as  soon 
as  the  pair  of  you  got  below,  I  sent  word  to  the 
mate  to  call  all  hands,  and  get  out  of  the  Tyne  as 
soon  as  the  pilot  could  manage  it."  She  knelt  be- 
side Kettle's  prostrate  body,  and  passed  her  hand 
caressingly  over  his  damp  forehead.  "You  are  sure 
you  have  not  overdone  it  ?  "  she  asked. 

"  I  am  sure  of  nothing  like  that,"  he  answered 
grimly.  '*  But  I  gave  him  the  dose  you  measured 
out  yourself,  so  what's  done  is  your  own  aflair.  I 
only  added  enough  whisky  to  drown  the  taste,  and 
the  poor  little  beggar  drank  it  ail  down  at  one 
mouthful." 

"  I  don't  see  that  you  need  pity  him  much.  He 
will  be  all  right  when  he  wakes." 

"  When  he  wakes  it  will  be  at  sea,  and  I  have 
heard  him  speak  of  his  wife  and  kids.     That's  why 


208  ADVENTURES   OF   CAPTAIN   KETTLE. 

I  pity  him,  Donna  Clotilde.  Incidentally  I'm  a  bit 
sorry  for  myself."  He  stooped  over  the  prostrate 
man,  and  took  a  revolver  from  the  back  pocket 
of  his  trousers.  "  Look  there  !  You  see  the  fellow 
took  a  gun  with  him  even  to  Hallett's.  It's  grown 
to  be  a  habit  with  him.  He's  a  dead  .shot,  too,  and 
doesn't  mind  shooting." 

"  I  didn't  think  you  were  a  coward." 

"  You  know  quite  well  I'm  not,  Sefiorita.  But 
this  Captain  Kettle  will  remember  that  I  was  the  fel- 
low that  decoyed  him  on  board,  and  he'll  be  pretty 
anxious  to  square  up  the  account  when  he  wakes." 

"You  are  well  paid  on  purpose  to  cover  all  risks," 
said  the  woman  with  some  contempt. 

"  And  I  shall  be  earning  my  pay,"  said  the  red- 
haired  man  doggedly.  "  This  small  person  here's  a 
holy  terror.  Well,  I  must  be  getting  on  deck  to  see 
the  pilot  take  her  down  the  river.  Here,  I'll  put 
him  on  the  bed  before  I  go.  He'll  sleep  it  off  more 
comfortably  there." 

"  You  shall  not  touch  him,"  said  Donna  Clotilde. 
"  I  will  do  all  that's  needful.  I  have  waited  for  this 
moment  for  three  long  years." 

"  You  must  be  pretty  keen  on  him  if  you  can  sit 
by  him  when  he  does  not  know  you." 

"  I  have  loved  him  since  the  first  moment  we  met, 
and  he  knows  it ;  and  I  do  not  mind  who  else  knows 
it  also.  I  am  entirely  without  shame  in  the  matter: 
I  glory  in  it.  I  am  not  one  of  your  cold-blooded 
European  women." 

*'  Well,"  he  said,  "  you're  paying  me  to  run  this 
yacht,  and  I  must  be  off  up  to  see  the  pilot  take  her 
out  of  the  river  without  losing  us  any  paint."     And 


THE   RAIDING   OF  DONNA   CLOTILDE.  309 

he  went  out  of  his  room,  and  left  Donna  Clotilde  La 
Touche  alone  with  this  man  by  whom  she  was  so 
fiercely  attracted. 

The  yacht  steamed  out  between  Tyne  pier  heads, 
and  the  pilot  left  her  in  the  coble  which  had  been 
towing  stern-first  alongside.  Her  destination  was 
the  Mediterranean,  but  she  did  not  port  her  helm 
at  once.  Instead,  she  held  on  straight  out  into  the 
North  Sea,  and  then  turned  off  to  make  the  Medit- 
erranean, north  about  ;  that  is,  through  the  Pent- 
land,  and  round  Scotland.  She  kept  clear  of  Ireland 
also,  making  a  course  for  herself  through  the  deeper 
wildernesses  of  the  North  Atlantic,  avoiding  the 
north-and-south  traffic  of  the  Bay,  and  in  fact 
sighting  scarcely  a  single  vessel  till  the  red-haired 
man  at  last  starboarded  his  helm  and  put  her  east 
for  the  Straits. 

The  voyage  was  not  one  of  monotony.  Captain 
Kettle  lay  for  the  first  twenty-four  hours  in  a  state 
of  snoring  unconsciousness,  and  when  he  did  come 
to  his  wits  again,  found  himself  in  a  cabin  alone. 
He  got  up  and  stretched.  His  limbs  were  heavy 
and  languid,  but  he  was  not  conscious  of  having  re- 
ceived any  hurt.  He  clapped  a  hand  to  the  region 
of  his  loins  and  nodded  his  grim  head  significantly. 
His  pistol  was  missing. 

He  looked  in  the  glass  and  saw  that  his  face 
above  the  red  torpedo  beard  was  drawn  and  white, 
and  that  his  eyes  were  framed  in  black,  dissipated- 
looking  rings.  There  was  an  evil  taste  in  his  mouth, 
too,  which  even  a  bottleful  of  water  did  not  allay. 
However,  all  of  these  were  minor  details ;  they  might 
14 


2IO  ADVENTURES  OF  CAPTAIN  KETTLE. 

be  repaired  afterwards.  His  first  requirement  was 
revenge  on  the  man  who  had  lured  him  aboard. 

His  natural  instincts  of  tidiness  made  him  go 
through  the  ceremony  of  toilette,  and  then  he  put 
on  his  cap,  and,  spruce  and  pale,  went  out  through 
the  luxurious  cabin  and  passageways  of  the  yacht, 
and  found  his  way  on  deck. 

The  time  was  night ;  the  cold  air  was  full  of  moon- 
shine ;  and  fortune  favoured  him  insomuch  that  the 
red-haired  man  whom  he  sought  was  himself  stand- 
ing a  watch.  He  walked  up  to  him  without  any 
concealment,  and  then,  swift  as  light,  slung  out  his 
right  fist,  sending  every  ounce  of  his  weight  after  it, 
and  caught  the  red-haired  man  squarely  on  the  peak 
of  the  jaw. 

The  fellow  went  down  as  if  he  had  been  pole-axed, 
and  Kettle  was  prom.ptly  on  top  of  him.  The  three 
other  hands  of  the  watch  on  deck  were  coming  fast 
to  their  big  captain's  assistance,  and  Kettle  made 
the  most  of  his  time.  He  had  been  brought  up  in 
a  school  where  he  was  taught  to  hit  hard,  and  hit 
first,  and  keep  on  hitting,  and  moreover  he  was 
anatomically  skilled  enough  to  know  where  to  hit 
with  most  effect.  He  had  no  time  then  for  punctil- 
ious fighting;  he  intended  to  mark  his  man  in  return 
for  value  received  ;  and  he  did  it.  Then  the  three 
lusty  deck  hands  of  the  watch  came  up  and  wrenched 
him  off,  and  held  him  for  their  oflficer  in  turn  to  take 
vengeance  on. 

Kettle  stood  in  their  grip,  panting,  and  pale,  and 
exultant. 

**  You  great  ugly  red-polled  beggar !  "  he  said, 
**  I've  made  your  face  match   your  head,  but  you 


THE  RAIDING  OF  DONNA  CLOTILDE.  211 

needn't  thank  me  for  it.  You'd  dare  to  Shanghai 
me,  would  you?  By  James,  I'll  make  your  ship  a 
perfect  hell  till  I'm  off  it." 

"  You  hit  a  man  when  he's  not  looking." 
"  Liar !  "  said  Kettle.     "  You  saw  me  plain  enough. 
If  you  were  half  a  sailor  you'd  never  have  been  hit." 
"  You're  half  my  size.     I  couldn't  fight  you." 
"  Tell  your  hands  to  set  me  adrift,  and  try." 
The  big  man  was  tempted,  but  he  swallowed  down 
his    inclination.     He    ordered    the  men    who  were 
holding  Captain  Kettle  to  set  him  free  and  go  away 
forward  again,  and  then  he  thrust  his  own  fists  res- 
olutely in  his  pockets. 

"  Now,"  he  said,  when  they  were  alone,  "  I  own 
up  to  having  earned  what  you've  given  me,  and  I 
hope  that'll  suit  you,  for  if  it  is  doesn't,  I'll  shoot  you 
like  a  rat  with  your  own  gun.  You've  handled  me 
in  a  way  no  other  man  has  done  before,  and  so  you 
can  tickle  your  pride  with  that,  and  simmer  down. 
If  you  want  to  know,  I  was  a  man  like  yourself, 
hard  up ;  and  I  was  paid  to  kidnap  you,  and  I'd  have 
kidnapped  the  devil  for  money  just  then." 

"  I  know  nothing  about  the  devil,"  said  Kettle 
acidly  ;  "  but  you've  got  me,  and  you  couldn't  very 
well  find  a  worse  bargain.  If  you  are  not  a  fool, 
you  will  set  me  ashore  at  once." 

•*  I  shall  act  entirely  by  my  owner's  orders." 
"Then  trot  out  your  owner,  and  I'll  pass  the  time 
of  day  with  him  next.     I'm  not  particular.     I'll  kill 
the  whole  blooming  ship's  company  if  I  don't  get 
my  own  way." 

"  Man,  don't  you  be  a  fool.  You  can't  hit  a 
woman." 


212  ADVENTURES   OF  CAPTAIN  KETTLE. 

"  A  woman  ?  " 

"  Yes,  I  told  you  before — Donna  Clotilde.  You 
know  her  well  enough." 

"  Donna  Clotilde,  who?" 

"  La  Touche." 

The  stiffening  seemed  suddenly  to  go  out  of  the 
little  man.  He  stepped  wearily  across  the  deck,  and 
leant  his  elbows  on  the  yacht's  polished  topgallant 
rail.  "  By  James  !  "  he  murmured  to  the  purple 
arch  of  the  night.  "  By  James !  that — that  woman. 
What  a  ruddy  mess."  And  then  he  broke  off  into 
dreary  musing.  He  had  known  this  Donna  Clotilde 
La  Touche  before  ;  had  entered  her  employ  in  Val- 
paraiso ;  had  helped  her  revolutionary  schemes  by 
capturing  a  warship  for  her.  In  return  she  had  con- 
ceived a  mad  infatuation  for  him.  But  all  the  while 
he  regarded  her  merely  as  his  employer.  In  the  end 
he  had  been  practically  set  adrift  at  sea  in  an  open 
boat  as  a  penance  for  not  divorcing  his  own  wife 
and  marrying  her.  And  now  she  was  come  to  add 
to  his  other  troubles  by  beginning  to  persecute  him 
again.     It  was  hard,  bitterly  hard. 

By  some  subtle  transference  of  thought,  the 
woman  in  her  berth  below  became  conscious  of  his 
regard,  grew  restless,  woke,  got  more  restless,  dressed, 
came  on  deck,  and  saw  this  man  with  whom  she  was 
so  fiercely  enamoured,  staring  gloomily  over  the  bul- 
warks. With  her  lithe,  silent  walk  she  stepped  across 
the  dewy  decks  under  the  moonlight,  and  without 
his  hearing  her,  leant  on  the  rail  at  his  side  and  flung 
an  arm  across  his  shoulders. 

Captain  Kettle  woke  from  his  musing  with  a  start, 
stepped  coldly  aside,  and  saluted  formally.     He  had 


THE   RAIDING   OF   DONNA   CLOTILDE.  213 

an  eye  for  a  good-looking  woman,  and  this  one  was 
deliciously  handsome.  He  was  always  chivalrous 
toward  the  other  sex,  whatever  might  be  their  char- 
acters ;  but  the  fact  of  his  own  kidnapping  at  the 
moment  of  Mrs.  Kettle's  pressing  need,  made  him 
almost  as  hard  as  though  a  man  stood  before  him  as 
his  enemy. 

"  Miss  La  Touche,"  he  said,  "  do  you  wish  me  to 
remember  you  with  hatred?" 

**  I  do  not  wish  you  to  have  need  to  remember  me  at 
all.  As  you  know,  I  wish  you  to  stay  with  me  always.** 

*'  That,  as  I  have  told  you  before.  Miss,  is  impossi- 
ble for  more  reasons  than  one.  You  have  done  me 
infinite  mischief  already.  I  might  have  found  em- 
ployment by  this  time  had  I  stayed  in  South  Shields, 
and  meanwhile  my  wife  and  children  are  hungry. 
Be  content  with  that,  and  set  me  ashore." 

"  I  repeat  the  offer  I  made  you  in  South  America. 
Come  with  me,  get  a  divorce,  and  your  wife  shall 
have  an  income  such  as  she  never  dreamed  of,  and 
such  as  you  never  could  have  got  her  in  all  your  life 
otherwise.  You  know  I  am  not  boasting.  As  you 
must  know  by  this,  I  am  one  of  the  richest  women 
in  the  world." 

"  Thank  you,  but  I  do  not  accept  the  terms. 
Money  is  not  everything." 

**  And  meanwhile,  remember,  I  keep  you  on  board 
here,  whether  you  like  it  or  not ;  and,  until  you  give 
way  to  what  I  want,  your  wife  may  starve.  So  if 
she  and  your  children  are  in  painful  straits,  you 
must  recollect  that  it  is  entirely  your  fault." 

"  Quite  so,"  said  Kettle.  "  She  will  be  content  to 
starve  when  she  knows  the  reason" 


214  ADVENTURES   OF   CAPTAIN   KETTLE. 

Donni  ClotJlde's  eyes  began  to  glitter. 

"  Ther'i  are  not  many  men  who  would  refuse  if  I 
offered  them  myself."  ' 

"  Then,  M';ss,  I  must  remain  curious." 

She  stamp-ed  her  foot.  "  I  have  hungered  for  you 
all  this  time,  and  I  will  not  give  you  up  for  mere 
words.  You  will  come  to  love  me  in  time  as  I  love 
you.  I  teli  you  you  will,  you  must,  you  shall.  I 
have  got  you  now,  and  I  will  not  let  you  go  again." 

"  Then,  Miss,"  said  Kettle  grimly,  "  I  shall  have 
to  show  you  that  I  am  too  hot  to  hold." 

She  faced  him  with  heaving  breast.  "  We  will 
see  who  wins,"  she  cried. 

"  Probably,"  said  Captain  Kettle,  and  took  off  his 
cap.  "  Good-night,  Miss,  for  the  present.  We  know 
how  we  stand  :  the  game  appears  to  begin  between 
us  from  now."  He  turned  deliberately  away  from 
her,  walked  forward,  and  went  below  ;  and,  after  a 
little  waiting,  Donna  Clotilde  shivered  and  went  back 
to  her  own  luxurious  state-room. 

But  if  she  was  content  to  spend  the  rest  of  the 
night  in  mere  empty  longing,  Captain  Kettle  was 
putting  his  time  to  more  practical  use.  He  was 
essentially  a  man  of  action. 

Cautiously,  he  found  his  way  to  the  steward's 
store-room,  filled  a  case  with  meat  tins  and  biscuit, 
and  then  coming  on  deck  again,  stowed  it  away  in 
the  lifeboat,  which  hung  in  davits  out-board,  without 
being  noticed.  With  equal  success  he  took  the 
boat's  breaker  forward,  filled  it  from  a  water  tank, 
and  got  it  fixed  on  its  chocks  again,  still  without 
being  seen.  The  moon  was  behind  clouds,  and 
the  darkness  favoured  him.     He  threw  down   the 


THE   RAIDING   OF   DONN//.   CLOTILDE.  215 

coils  of  the  davit  falls  on  deck,  cast  off  one  from 
where  it  was  belayed,  took  a  turn  and  carried  the 
bight  to  the  other  davit  so  that  he  could  lower  away 
both  tackles  at  once. 

But  he  was  not  allowed  to  get  much  further.  The 
disused  blocks  screamed  like  a  parcel  of  cats  as  the 
ropes  rended  through  them  ;  there  was  a  shrill 
whistle  from  the  officer  of  the  watch ;  and  half-a- 
dozen  men  from  various  parts  of  the  deck  came 
bounding  along  to  interfere. 

Captain  Kettle  let  go  both  falls  to  overhaul  as 
they  chose,  picked  up  a  greenheart  belaying-pin  out 
of  the  pin  rail,  and  stood  on  the  defensive.  But  the 
forward  fall  kinked  and  jammed,  and  though  the 
little  man  fought  like  a  demon  to  keep  off  the  watch 
till  he  got  it  clear,  they  were  too  many  for  him,  and 
drove  him  to  the  deck  by  sheer  weight  of  numbers. 
He  had  cracked  one  man's  forearm  in  the  scuffle, 
laid  open  another's  face,  and  smashed  in  the  front 
teeth  of  a  third,  and  they  were  rather  inclined  to 
treat  him  roughly,  but  the  red-haired  skipper  came 
up,  and  by  sheer  superior  strength  picked  him  up, 
kicking  and  struggling,  and  hustled  him  off  below 
whether  he  liked  it  or  no. 

The  lifeboat  dangled  half-swamped  from  the  for- 
ward davit  tackle,  and  all  hands  had  to  be  piped  be- 
fore they  could  get  her  on  board  again  ;  and  by  the 
time  they  had  completed  this  job,  there  was  another 
matter  handy  to  occupy  their  attention.  A  fireman 
came  up  from  below,  white-faced  and  trembling : 
"  The  yacht's  half  full  of  water,"  he  said. 
Now  that  their  attention  was  called  to  it,  they 
noticed  the  sluggish  way  she  rode  the  water. 


2l6  ADVENTURES   OF   CAPTAIN   KETTLE. 

"  She  must  have  started  a  plate  or  something,** 
the  fireman  went  on  excitedly.  "  We've  got  both 
bilge  pumps  running,  and  they  won't  look  at  it." 
The  water's  coming  in  like  a  sluice." 

"  Carpenter,"  sang  out  the  red-haired  man,  "  come 
below  with  me  and  see  if  we  can  find  anything,"  and 
he  led  the  way  to  the  companion.  Between  decks 
they  could  hear  the  water  slopping  about  under  the 
flooring.     It  seemed  a  bad,  almost  a  hopeless  case. 

Instinctively  the  red-haired  man  went  to  his  own 
room  to  pocket  his  valuables,  and  by  a  chance  he 
was  moved  to  lift  up  the  door  in  the  floor  which  cov- 
ered the  bath  beneath  it.  Ah,  there  was  the  mis- 
chief. The  sea  cock  which  filled  the  bath  was  turned 
on  to  the  full,  and  the  iron  tub  was  gushing  water 
on  every  side.  The  next  state-room  was  empty,  but 
the  bath  cock  there  was  also  turned  on  to  the  full; 
and  after  going  round  the  ship,  and  finally  entering 
Kettle's  room  (and  covering  him  with  a  revolver), 
and  turning  off  his  water  supply,  he  found  that  the 
sea  had  been  pouring  inboard  from  no  fewer  than 
eight  separate  apertures. 

"And  this  is  your  work,  you  little  fiend,  I  sup- 
pose?" said  the  red-haired  man  savagely. 

"  Certainly,"  said  Captain  Kettle.  "  Shoot  me  if 
you  like,  put  me  ashore  if  you  choose,  but  don't 
grumble  if  you  find  me  a  deuced  ugly  passenger. 
I'm  not  in  the  habit  of  being  made  to  travel  where 
I  don't  wish." 

That  afternoon  Kettle  contrived  to  set  the  yacht 
afire  in  three  separate  places,  and  a  good  deal  of 
damage  was  done  (and  night  had  fallen  again)  before 
the  scared  crew  managed  to  extinguish  the  flames  ; 


THE   RAIDING   OF   DONNA   CLOTILDE.  21/ 

and  this  time  Donna  Clotilde  intervened.  She  asked 
for  Kettle's  parole  that  he  would  attempt  no  further 
mischief  ;  and  when  this  was  flatly  refused,  inconti- 
nently put  him  in  irons.  The  lady  was  somewhat 
tigerish  in  her  affections. 

A  second  time  Captain  Kettle  managed  to  get  the 
yacht  in  a  blaze,  at  the  imminent  peril  of  immolat- 
ing himself,  and  then,  from  lack  of  further  oppor- 
tunity to  make  himself  obnoxious,  lay  quiet  in  his 
lair  till  such  time  as  the  yacht  would  of  necessity  go 
into  harbour  to  coal.  The  exasperated  crew  would 
cheerfully  have  murdered  him  if  they  had  been  given 
the  chance,  but  Donna  Clotilde  would  not  permit 
him  to  be  harmed.  She  was  a  young  woman  who, 
up  to  this,  had  always  contrived  to  have  her  own 
way,  and  she  firmly  believed  that  she  would  tame 
Kettle  in  time. 

When  the  yacht  passed  the  Straits  she  had  only 
four  days'  more  coal  on  board,  and  the  executive 
(and  Kettle)  expected  that  she  would  go  into  Gib- 
raltar and  lay  alongside  a  hulk  to  rebunker.  But 
Donna  Clotilde  had  other  notions.  She  had  the 
yacht  run  down  theMorrocco  coast,  and  brought  to 
an  anchor.  So  long  as  she  had  Captain  Kettle  in 
her  company  upon  the  waters,  she  did  not  vastly 
care  whether  she  was  moving  or  at  a  standstill. 

"  You  cannot  escape  me  here,"  she  said  to  him 
when  the  cable  had  roared  from  the  hawse  pipe,  and 
the  dandy  steamer  had  swung  to  a  rest.  "  The  yacht 
is  victualled  for  a  year,  and  I  can  stay  here  as  long  as 
you  choose.  You  had  far  better  be  philosophical 
and  give  in.  Marry  me  now,  and  liking  will  come 
afterwards." 


2l8  ADVENTURES   OF  CAPTAIN   KETTLE. 

Kettle  looked  at  the  tigerish  love  and  resentment 
which  blazed  from  her  black  eyes,  and  answered  with 
cold  politeness  that  time  would  show  what  happened; 
though,  to  tell  the  truth,  indomitable  though  he  was 
as  a  general  thing,  he  was  at  that  time  feeling  that 
escape  was  almost  impossible.  And  so  for  the  while 
he  more  or  less  resigned  himself  to  captivity. 

Under  the  baking  blue  of  a  Mediterranean  sky  this 
one-sided  courtship  progressed,  Donna  Clotilde  alter- 
nating her  ecstasies  of  fierce  endearment  by  parox- 
ysms of  invective,  and  Kettle  enduring  both  in  equal 
coldness  and  immobility.  The  crew  of  the  yacht 
looked  on,  stolidly  non-interferent,  and  were  kept  by 
their  officers  at  cleaning  and  painting,  as  necessary 
occupiers  to  the  mind.  But  one  or  other  of  them, 
of  their  own  free  will,  always  kept  an  eye  on  their 
guest,  whether  he  was  on  deck  or  below.  He  had 
given  them  a  wholesome  taste  of  his  quality,  and 
they  had  an  abject  dread  of  what  he  might  be  up  to 
next  if  he  was  left  alone.  They  quite  understood 
that  he  would  destroy  the  yacht  and  all  hands  if,  by 
doing  so,  he  could  regain  his  personal  liberty. 

But  others,  it  seems,  besides  those  already  men- 
tioned in  this  narrative,  were  taking  a  lively  interest 
in  the  smart  yacht  and  her  people.  She  was  at  an- 
chor in  the  bay  of  the  Riff  coast,  and  the  gentry  who 
inhabited  the  beach  villages,  and  the  villages  in  the 
hills  behind  the  beach,  had  always  looked  upon  any- 
body and  anything  they  could  grab  as  their  just 
and  lawful  prey.  The  Sultan  of  Morocco,  the  war 
.ihips  of  France,  Spain,  and  elsewhere,  and  the 
emissaries  of  other  powers  had  time  after  time  en- 


THE   RAIDING   OF   DONNA    CLQTILDE.  219 

deavoured  to  school  them  in  the  science  of  civiliza- 
tion without  effect,  and  so  they  still  remain  to-day, 
the  only  regularly  practising  pirates  in  the  Western 
World. 

The  yacht  was  sighted  first  from  the  hills ;  was 
reported  to  the  beach  villages ;  and  was  reconnoitred 
under  cover  of  night  by  a  tiny  fishing-boat.  The 
report  was  pleasing,  and  word  went  round.  Bearded 
brown  men  collected  at  an  appointed  spot,  each  with 
the  arms  to  which  he  was  best  accustomed ;  and 
when  darkness  fell,  four  large  boats  were  run  down 
to  the  feather  edge  of  the  surf.  There  was  no  inde- 
cent hurry.  They  did  their  work  with  method  and 
carefulness,  like  men  who  are  used  to  it ;  and  they 
arrived  alongside  the  yacht  at  3  A.  M.,  confidently 
expecting  to  take  her  by  surprise. 

But  the  crew  of  the  yacht,  thanks  to  Captain 
Kettle's  vagaries,  were  not  in  the  habit  of  sleeping 
over  soundly  ;  they  never  knew  what  piece  of  dan- 
gerous mischief  their  little  captive  might  turn  his 
willing  hand  to  next ;  and,  as  a  consequence,  when 
the  anchor  watch  sang  out  his  first  alarm,  not  many 
seconds  elapsed  before  every  hand  aboard  was  on 
deck.  The  yacht  was  well  supplied  with  revolvers 
and  cutlasses,  and  half  aminute  sufficed  to  get  these 
up  from  below  and  distributed,  so  that  when  the 
Riffians  attempted  to  board,  the  defenders  were 
quite  ready  to  do  them  battle. 

Be  this  how  it  may,  however,  there  is  no  doubt  as 
to  which  side  got  the  first  advantage.  The  yacht's 
low  freeboard  made  but  a  small  obstacle  to  a  climber 
from  the  large  boats  alongside,  and  neither  the  deck* 
hands,  nor  the  stockhold  crew,  were  any  of  therl 


220  ADVENTURES   OF   CAPTAIN   KETTLE. 

trained  fighting  men.  In  their  'prentice  hands  the 
kicking  revolvers  threw  high,  and  v/ere  only  useful 
as  knuckledusters,  and  till  they  had  thrown  them 
down,  and  got  their  cutlasses  into  play,  they  did 
hardly  any  execution  to  speak  about.  The  Riff  men, 
on  the  other  hand,  had  been  bred  and  born  in  an 
atmosphere  of  skirmish,  and  made  ground  steadily. 

At  an  early  point  of  the  scuffle.  Captain  Kettle 
came  on  deck  with  a  cigar  in  his  mouth,  and  hands 
in  his  pockets,  and  looked  on  upon  matters  with  a 
critical  interest,  but  did  not  offer  to  interfere  one 
way  or  the  other.  It  v/as  quite  a  new  sensation  to 
him,  to  watch  an  active  fight  without  being  called 
Mpon  to  assist  or  arbitrate. 

And  then  up  came  from  below  Donna  Clotilde 
La  Touche,  dressed  and  weaponed,  and,  without  a 
bk  of  hesitation,  flung  herself  into  the  turmoil.  She 
saw  Kettle  standing  on  one  side,  but  neither  be- 
sought  nor  commanded  him.  She  would  have  died 
sooner  than  ask  for  his  help  then,  and  be  met  with 
a  refusal. 

Into  the  mel6e  she  went,  knife  and  pistol,  and 
there  is  no  doubt  that  her  example,  and  the  fury  of 
her  rush,  animated  the  yacht's  crew,  and  made  them 
stronger  to  drive  the  wall  of  their  assailants  back.  To 
give  Donna  Clotilde  her  due,  she  was  as  brave  as  the 
bravest  man,  and,  moreover,  she  was  a  certain  shot 
at  moderate  range.  But,  after  her  revolver  was 
empty  and  the  press  closed  round  her,  it  was  not 
long  before  an  expert  hand  twisted  the  knife  from 
her  grasp,  and  then  the  end  came  quickly.  An  evil- 
smelHng  man  noted  her  glorious  beauty,  and  marked 
her  out  as  his  special  loot.     He  clapped  a  couple  of 


THE   RAIDING   OF   DONNA   CLOTILDE.  221 

sinewy  arms  around  her,  and  bore  her  away  towards 
the  bulwarks,  and  his  boat. 

Some  one  had  switched  on  the  electric  deck  lights, 
and  the  fight  was  in  aglow  of  radiance.  Everything 
was  to  be  clearly  seen.  Donna  Clotilde  was  being 
dragged  resisting  along  the  decks,  and  Kettle  looked 
on  placidly  smoking  his  cigar.  She  was  heaved  up 
on  the  bulwarks  ;  in  another  moment  she  would  be 
gone  from  his  path  forever. 

Still  her  lips  made  no  sound,  though  her  great, 
black  eyes  were  full  of  wild  entreaty.  But  the  eyes 
were  more  than  Kettle  could  stand.  He  stooped 
and  picked  up  a  weapon  from  amongst  the  litter  on 
deck,  and  rushed  forward  and  gave  a  blow,  and  the 
Riffian  dropped  limply,  and  Donna  Clotilde  stood  by 
the  yacht's  bulwark,  breathless  and  gasping, 

"  Now  you  get  away  below,"  he  ordered  curtly. 
"  I'll  soon  clear  this  rabble  over  the  side." 

He  watched  to  see  her  obey  him,  and  she  did  it 
meekly.  Then  he  gave  his  attention  to  the  fight. 
He  broke  a  packet  of  cartridges  which  lay  on  the 
deck  planks,  picked  up  and  loaded  a  revolver,  and 
commenced  to  make  himself  useful  to  the  yacht's 
crew  ;  and  from  that  moment  the  fortune  of  the  battle 
turned. 

Captain  Owen  Kettle  was  (and  is)  a  beautiful 
fighter,  and  this  was  just  his  fight.  Against  his  cool- 
headed  ferocity  the  Riffians  gave  way  like  sand  be- 
fore waves.  He  did  not  miss  a  blow,  he  did  not 
waste  a  shot ;  all  his  efforts  went  home  with  the 
deadliest  effect.  His  voice,  too,  was  a  splendid  ally. 
The  yacht's  crew  had  been  doing  their  utmost  al- 
ready :  they  had  been  fighting  for  their  bare  lives. 


222  ADVENTURES  OF  CAPTAIN   KETTLE. 

But  with  Kettle's  poisonous  tongue  to  lash  them 
they  did  far  more  ;  they  raged  like  wild  beasts  at  the 
brown  men  who  had  invaded  their  sacred  decking, 
and  drove  them  back  with  resistless  fury. 

"  Hump  yourselves,  you  lazy  dogs ! "  Kettle 
shouted.  "  Keep  them  on  the  move.  Drive  them 
over  the  bows.  Murder  those  you  can  reach.  Am 
I  to  do  all  this  job  myself  ?    Come  on,  you  mongrels." 

The  red  cutlasses  stabbed  and  hacked,  and  the 
shrieks  and  yells  and  curses  of  the  fight  grew  to  a 
climax  ;  and  then  the  Riffians  with  a  sudden  panic 
gave  way,  and  ran  for  the  side,  and  tumbled  over 
into  their  boats.  There  was  no  quarter  asked  or 
given.  The  exasperated  yachtsmen  cut  down  all 
they  could  reach  even  whilst  they  were  escaping ; 
and  when  the  sound  had  gone,  they  threw  after  them 
the  killed  and  wounded,  to  be  rescued  or  lost  as  they 
chose.  Afterwards,  having  a  moment's  respite, 
they  picked  up  their  revolvers  again,  loaded  them, 
and  kept  up  a  spattering,  ill-aimed  fire  till  the  boats 
were  out  of  reach.  Then  when  they  turned  to  look 
to  their  own  killed  and  hurt,  they  found  a  new  crisis 
awaiting  them. 

Captain  Kettle  was  on  the  top  of  the  deck  house 
which  served  as  a  navigating  bridge,  ostentatiously 
closing  up  the  breech  of  the  revolver  after  reloading 
it.  He  wished  for  a  hearing,  and  after  what  they 
had  seen  of  his  deadly  marksmanship,  they  gave  it 
to  him  without  demur.  His  needs  were  simple. 
He  wanted  steam  as  soon  as  the  engineers  could 
give  it  him,  and  he  intended  to  take  the  yacht  into 
Gibraltar  right  away.  Had  anybody  an  objection 
to  raise  ? 


THE  RAIDING  OF  DONNA  CLOTILDE.  223 

The  red-haired  man  made  himself  spokesman. 
•*  We  should  have  to  go  to  Gib  anyway,"  said  he, 
"Some  of  us  want  a  doctor  badly,  and  three  of  us 
want  a  parson  to  read  the  funeral  service.  Whether 
you  can  get  ashore  once  we  do  run  into  Gib,  Captain, 
is  your  own  concern." 

"  You  can  leave  that  to  me  safely,"  said  Captain 
Kettle.  "  It  will  be  something  big  that  stops  me 
from  having  my  own  way  now." 

The  men  dispersed  about  their  duties,  the  decks 
were  hosed  down,  and  the  deck  lights  switched  off. 
After  awhile  Donna  Clotilde  came  gliding  up  out  of 
the  darkness,  and  stepped  up  the  ladder  to  the  top 
of  the  deck  house.     Kettle  regarded  her  uneasily. 

To  his  surprise  she  knelt  down,  took  his  hand,  and 
smothered  it  with  burning  kisses.  Then  she  went 
back  to  the  head  of  the  ladder.  "  My  dear,"  she 
said,  "  I  will  never  see  you  again.  I  made  you  hate 
me,  and  yet  you  saved  my  life.  I  wish  I  thought  I 
could  ever  forget  you." 

*'  Miss  La  Touche,"  said  Kettle,  "  you  will  find  a 
man  in  your  own  station  one  of  these  days  to 
make  you  a  proper  husband,  and  then  you  will  look 
back  at  this  cruise  and  think  how  lucky  it  was  you 
so  soon  sickened,  and  kicked  me  away  from  you." 

She  shook  her  head  and  smiled  through  her  tears. 

"  You  are  generous,"  she  said.  "  Good-by. 
Good-bye,  my  darling.  Good-bye."  Then  she  went 
down  the  ladder,  and  Kettle  never  saw  her  again. 

A  quartermaster  came  up  and  took  the  wheel. 
The  windlass  engine  had  been  clacking,  and  the  red- 
haired  man  called  out  from  forward,  "All  gone." 

"  Quartermaster,"  said  Kettle. 


224  ADVENTURES  OF  CAPTAIN  KETTLE. 

**  Yessir,"  said  the  quartermaster. 
"  Nor'  nor'  west  and  by  west." 
"Nor'   no'   west   n'b*   west  it  is,  sir/*  said  the 
quartermaster  briskly. 


CHAPTER  X. 

MR.   GEDGE'S  CATSPAW. 

Captain  Owen  Kettle  folded  the  letter-card, 
put  it  in  his  pocket,  and  relit  his  cigar.  He  drew 
paper  towards  him,  and  took  out  a  stub  of  pencil 
and  tried  to  make  verse,  which  was  his  habit  when 
things  were  shaping  themselves  awry,  but  the  rhymes 
refused  to  come.  He  changed  the  metre :  he  gave 
op  labouring  to  fit  the  words  to  the  air  of  "  Swanee 
River,*'  and  started  fresh  lines  which  would  go  to  the 
tune  of  "  Greenland's  Icy  Mountains,"  a  metre  with 
♦vhich  at  other  times  he  had  been  notoriously  suc- 
cessful. But  it  failed  him  now.  He  could  not  get 
the  jingle  ;  spare  feet  bristled  at  every  turn  ;  and  the 
field  of  poppies,  on  which  his  muse  was  engaged, 
became   every  moment  more  and  more  elusive. 

It  was  no  use.  He  put  down  the  pencil  and 
sighed,  and  then,  frowning  at  himself  for  his  indeci- 
sion, took  out  the  letter-card  agam,  and  deliberately 
re-read  it,  front  and  back. 

Captain  Kettle  was  a  man  who  made  up  his  mind 
over  most  matters  with  the  quickness  of  a  pistol- 
shot  ;  and  once  settled,  rightly  or  wrongly,  he  always 
stuck  to  his  decision.  But  here,  on  the  letter-card, 
was  a  matter  he  could  not  get  the  balance  of  at  all ; 
it  refused  to  be  dismissed,  even  temporarily,  from 
his  mind ;  it  involved  interests  far  too  large  to  be 
15  225 


226  ADVENTURES   OF   CAPTAIN    KETTLE. 

hazarded  by  a  hasty  verdict  either  one  way  or  the 
other;  and  the  difficulty  in  coming  to  any  satis- 
factory conclusion  irritated  him  heavily. 

The  letter-card  was  anonymous,  and  seemed  to 
present  no  clue  to  its  authorship.  It  was  type- 
written ;  it  was  posted,  as  the  stamp  showed,  in 
Newcastle  ;  it  committed  its  writer  in  no  degree  what- 
ever. But  it  made  statements  which,  if  true,  ought 
to  have  sent  somebody  to  penal  servitude ;  and  it 
threw  out  hints,  which,  true  or  untrue,  made  Captain 
Kettle  heir  to  a  whole  world  of  anxiety  and  trouble. 

It  is  an  excellent  academic  rule  to  entirely  disre- 
gard anonymous  letters,  but  it  is  by  no  means  always 
an  easy  rule  to  follow.  And  there  are  times  when 
a  friendly  warning  must  be  conveyed  anonymously 
or  not  at  all.  But  Kettle  .did  not  worry  his  head 
about  the  ethics  of  anonymous  letter-writing  as  a 
profession  ;  his  attention  was  taken  up  by  this  type- 
written card  from  "  Well-wisher,"  which  he  held  in 
his  hand : 

"  Your  skip  goes  to  sea  never  to  reach  port.  There 
is  an  insurance  robbery  cleverly  rigged.  You  think 
yourself  very  smart,  I  know,  but  this  time  you  are 
being  made  a  common  gull  of.'' 

And  the  writer  wound  up  by  saying:  ^^  Icayit give 
you  any  hint  of  Jiow  it's  goi?ig  to  be  done.  Only  I 
know  the  games  fixed.  So  keep  your  weather  eye 
skinned,  and  take  the  Sultan  of  Labuan  safely  out 
and  back,  and  tnaybe  you'll  get  something  more  solid 
than  a  drink, 

"  From 
"  Your  Well-wisher^ 


MR.    GEDGE'S   CATSPAW.  22/ 

Captain  Kettle  was  torn,  as  he  read,  by  many 
conflicting  sentiments.  Loyalty  to  Mr.  Gedge,  his 
owner,  was  one  of  them.  Gedge  had  sold  him  be- 
fore, but  that  was  in  a  way  condoned  by  this  pres- 
ent appointment  to  the  Sultan  of  Labuan.  And 
he  wanted  very  much  to  know  what  were  Mr. 
Gedge's  wishes  over  the  matter. 

His  own  code  of  morality  on  this  subject  was 
peculiar.  Ashore  in  South  Shields  he  was  as  honest 
as  a  bishop  ;  he  was  a  strict  chapel  member;  he  did 
not  even  steal  matches  from  the  Captains'  Room  at 
Hallett's,  his  house  of  call,  which  has  always  been 
a  recognised  peculation.  At  sea  he  conceived  him- 
self to  be  bought,  body  and  soul,  by  his  owner  for 
the  time  being,  and  was  perfectly  ready  to  risk  body 
and  soul  in  earning  his  pay. 

But  the  question  was,  how  was  this  pay  to  be 
earned? 

Up  till  then  he  would  have  said  :  "  By  driving  the 
Sultan  of  Labuan  over  the  seas  as  fast  as  could  be 
done  on  a  given  coal  consumption  ;  by  ruthlessly 
keeping  down  expense ;  and,  in  fact,  by  making  the 
steamer  earn  the  largest  possible  dividend  in  the 
ordinary  way  of  commerce."  But  this  typewritten 
letter-card  hinted  at  other  purposes,  which  he  knew 
were  quite  within  the  bounds  of  possibility,  and  if 
he  was  being  made  into  a  catspaw :- 

He  hit  the  unfinished  poems  on  the  table  a  blow 
with  his  fist.  "  By  James  !  "  he  muttered,  *'  a  cats- 
paw  ?  I  didn't  think  of  it  in  that  light  before. 
Well,  we'd  better  have  a  clear  understanding  about 
the  matter." 


228  ADVENTURES    OF   CAPTAIN   KETTLE. 

He  got  up,  crammed  the  blue  letter-card  into  his 
pocket,  and  took  his  cap. 

"  My  dear,"  he  called  down  to  Mrs.  Kettle,  who 
was  engaged  on  the  family  wash  in  the  kitchen  be- 
low, "  I've  got  to  run  up  to  the  office  to  see  Mr. 
Gedge.  I  don't  think  1  quite  understand  his  wishes 
about  running  the  boat.  Get  your  tea  when  it's 
ready.  I  don't  want  to  keep  you  and  the  youngsters 
waiting." 

Captain  Kettle  thought  out  many  things  as  he 
journeyed  from  South  Shields  to  the  grimy  office  of 
his  employer  in  Newcastle,  but  his  data  were  in- 
sufficient, and  he  was  unable  to  get  hold  of  any 
scheme  by  which  he  could  safely  approach  what  was, 
to  say  the  very  least  of  it,  a  very  delicate  subject. 
Mr.  Gedge  had  hired  him  as  captain  of  the  Sultan 
of  Labuaity  had  said  no  word  about  losing  her,  and 
how  was  he  to  force  the  man's  confidence  ?  It 
looked  the  most  unpromising  enterprise  in  the 
world.  Moreover,  although  in  the  outer  world  he 
was  as  brave  a  fellow  as  ever  lived,  he  had  all  a  ship- 
master's timidity  at  tackling  a  ship-owner  in  his  lair, 
and  this,  of  course,  handicapped  him. 

In  this  mood,  then,  he  was  ushered  upon  Gedge 
in  his  office,  and  saw  him  signing  letters  and  casting 
occasional  sentences  to  a  young  woman  who  flicked 
them  down  in  shorthand. 

The  ship-owner  frowned.  He  was  very  busy. 
"  Well,  Captain,"  he  said,  "  what  is  it  ?  Talk  ahead. 
I  can  listen  whilst  I  sign  these  letters." 

"  It's  a  private  question  I'd  like  to  ask  you  about 
running  the  boat." 

"  Want  Miss  Payne  to  go  out  ?  " 


MR-    GEDGE'S   CATSPAW.  229 

"  If  I  might  trouble  her  so  far." 

Gedge  jerked  his  head  towards  the  door,  **  Type 
out  what  you've  got,"  he  said.  The  shorthand 
writer  went  out  and  closed  the  glass  door  after  her. 
"Now,  Kettle." 

Captain  Kettle  hesitated.  It  was  an  awkward 
subject  to  begin  upon. 

"  Now  then,  Captain,  out  with  it  quick.  I'm  in 
the  dickens  of  a  hurry." 

"  I  wish  you'd  let  me  know  a  little  more  exactly 
— in  confidence,  of  course — how  you  wish  me  to  run 
this  steamboat.     Do  you  want  me  to — I  mean ** 

"  Well,  get  on,  get  on." 

"  When  do  you  want  her  back  ?  " 

Gedge  leant  back  in  his  chair,  tapped  his  teeth 
with  the  end  of  his  pen.  "  Look  here.  Captain," 
he  said,  "  you  didn't  come  here  to  talk  rot  like  this. 
You've  had  your  orders  already.  You  aren't  a 
drinking  man,  or  I'd  say  you  were  screwed.  So 
there's  something  else  behind.     Come,  out  with  it.** 

"  I  hardly  know  how  to  begin." 

"  I  don't  want  rhetoric.     If  you've  got  a  tale  tell 

it,  if  not "     Mr.  Gedge  leant  over  his  desk  again 

and  went  on  signing  his  letters. 

Captain  Kettle  stood  the  rudeness  without  so 
much  as  a  flush.  He  sighed  a  little,  and  then,  after 
another  few  moments'  thought,  took  the  letter-card 
from  his  pocket  and  laid  it  on  his  employer's  table. 
After  Gedge  had  conned  through  and  signed  a 
couple  more  sheets,  he  took  the  card  up  in  his 
fingers  and  skimmed  it  over. 

As  he  read  the  color  deepened  in  his  face,  and 
Kettle  saw  that  he  was  moved,  but  said  nothing. 


230  ADVENTURES   OF  CAPTAIN   KETTLE. 

For  a  moment  there  was  silence  between  them,  and 
Gedge  tapped  at  his  teeth  and  was  apparently  lost 
in  thought.  Then  he  said  :  "  Where  did  you  get 
this?" 

"  Through  the  post." 

'*  And  why  did  you  bring  it  to  me  ?  ** 

"I  thought  you  might  have  something  to  say 
about  it." 

"  Shown  it  to  any  one  else  ?  " 

"  No,  sir;  I'm  in  your  service,  and  earning  your 
pay." 

"Yes;  I  pulled  you  out  of  the  gutter  again  quite 
recently,  and  you  said  you'd  be  able  to  get  your 
wife's  clothes  out  of  pawn  with  your  advance  note." 

"  I'm  very  grateful  to  you  for  giving  me  the  berth, 
sir,  and  I  shall  be  a  faithful  servant  to  you  as  long 
as  I'm  in  your  employ.  But  if  there's  anything  on, 
I'd  like  to  be  in  your  confidence.  I  know  she  isn't 
an  old  ship,  but " 

"  But  what  ?  " 

"  She's  uneconomical.  Her  engines  are  old-fash- 
ioned. It  wouldn't  pay  to  fit  her  with  triple  expan- 
sions and  new  boilers." 

"  I  see.  You  appear  to  know  a  lot  about  the 
ship,  Captain — more  than  I  do  myself,  in  fact.  I 
know  you're  a  small  tin  saint  when  you're  within 
hail  of  that  Ebenezer,  or  Bethel,  or  whatever  you 
call  it  here  ashore,  but  at  sea  you've  got  the  name 
for  not  being  over  particular." 

"  At  sea,"  said  the  little  sailor  with  a  sigh,  "  I  am 
what  I  have  to  be.  But  I  couldn't  do  that.  I'm  a 
poor  man,  sir;  I'm  pretty  nearly  a  desperate  man; 
but  there  are  some  kinds  of  things  that  are  beyond 


MR.   GEDGE'S   CATSPAW.  23 1 

me.  I  know  it's  done  often  enough,  but — you'll 
have  to  excuse  me.     I  can't  lose  her  for  you." 

**  Who's  asking  you  ?  "  said  Gedge  cheerily.  "  I'm 
not.  Don't  jump  at  conclusions,  man.  I  don't 
want  the  Sultan  of  Labuan  lost.  She's  not  my  best 
ship,  I'll  grant;  but  I  can  run  her  at  a  profit  for  all 
that ;  and  even  if  I  couldn't  I  am  not  the  sort  of 
man  to  try  and  make  my  dividends  out  of  Lloyd's. 
No,  not  by  any  means,  Captain ;  I've  got  my  name 
to  keep  up." 

Captain  Kettle  brought  up  a  sigh  of  relief.  "  Glad 
to  hear  it,  sir ;  I'm  glad  to  hear  it.  But  I  thought 
it  best  to  have  it  out  with  you.  That  beastly  letter 
upset  me." 

Gedge  laughed  slily.  "  Well,  if  you  want  to  know 
who  wrote  the  letter,  I  did  myself." 

Kettle  started.     He  was    obviously  incredulous. 

*•  Well,  to  be  accurate,  I  did  it  by  deputy.  You 
hae  yer  doots,  eh?  Hang  it,  man;  what  an  un- 
believing Jew  you  are."  He  pressed  one  of  the 
electric  pushes  by  the  side  of  his  desk,  and  the 
shorthand  writer  came  in  and  stood  at  the  doorway. 

"  Miss  Payne,  you  typed  this  letter-card,  didn't 
you  ?  "  he  asked,  and  Miss  Payne  dutifully  answered : 
••  Yes." 

"  Thank  you.  That'll  do.  Well,  Kettle,  I  hope 
you're  satisfied  now  ?  I  sent  this  blessed  card  be- 
cause I  wanted  to  see  how  deep  this  shore-going 
honesty  of  yours  went,  which  I've  heard  so  much 
about  and  now  I  know,  and  you  may  take  it  from 
me  that  you'll  profit  by  it  financially  in  the  very 
near  future.  The  shipmasters  I've  had  to  do  with 
have  been  mostly  rogues,  and  when  I  get  hold  of  a 


232  ADVENTURES   OF  CAPTAIN  KETTLE. 

straight  man  I  know  how  to  appreciate  him.  Now, 
good-by.  Captain,  and  a  prosperous  voyage  to  you. 
If  you  catch  the  midnight  mail  to-night  from  here, 
you'll  just  get  down  to  Newport  to-morrow  in  time 
to  see  her  come  into  dock.  Take  her  over  at  once, 
you  know  ;  we  can't  have  any  time  wasted.  Here 
good-bye.     I'm  frantically  busy." 

But  busy  though  he  might  be,  Mr.  Gedge  did  not 
immediately  return  to  signing  his  letters  after  Cap- 
tain Kettle's  departure.  Instead,  he  took  out  a 
handkerchief  and  wiped  his  forehead  and  wiped  his 
hands,  which  for  some  reason  seemed  to  have  grown 
unaccountably  clammy ;  and  for  awhile  he  lay  back 
in  his  writing-chair  like  a  man  who  feels  physically 
sick. 

Captain  Kettle,  however,  went  his  ways  humming 
a  cheerful  air,  and  as  the  twelve  o'clock  mail  roared 
out  that  night  across  the  high-level  bridge,  he  settled 
himself  to  sleep  in  his  corner  of  a  third-class  carriage 
and  to  dream  the  dreams  of  a  man  who,  after  many 
vicissitudes,  has  at  last  found  righteous  employment. 
It  was  a  new  experience  for  him,  and  he  permitted 
himself  the  luxury  of  enjoying  it  to  the  full. 

A  train  clattered  him  into  Monmouthshire  some 
twelve  hours  later,  and  he  stepped  out  on  Newport 
platform  into  a  fog  raw  and  fresh  from  the  Bristol 
Channel.  His  small,  worn  portmanteau  he  could 
easily  have  carried  in  his  hand,  but  there  is  an  eti- 
quette about  these  matters  which  even  hard-up  ship- 
masters, to  whom  a  shilling  is  a  financial  rarity,  must 
observe ;  and  so  he  took  a  four-wheeler  down  to  the 
agent's  office,  and  made  himself  known.  The  Sultan 
of  Labuan,   it  seemed,  had  come  up  the  Usk  and 


MR.    GEDGE'S   CATSPAW.  233 

gone  into  dock  barely  an  hour  before,  and  so  Kettle, 
obedient  to  his  orders,  went  down  at  once  to  take 
her  over. 

It  was  not  a  pleasant  operation,  this  ousting 
another  man  from  his  livelihood,  and  as  Kettle  had 
been  supplanted  a  weary  number  of  times  himself, 
be  thought  he  knew  pretty  well  the  feelings  of  the 
man  whom  he  had  come  to  replace.  His  reception, 
however,  surpris'=;d  him.  Williams,  the  former  mas- 
ter of  the  Sultan  of  Labuan,  handed  over  his  charge 
with  an  air  of  obvious  and  sincere  relief,  and  Kettle 
felt  that  he  was  being  eyed  with  a  certain  embarrass- 
ing curiosity.  The  man  was  not  disposed  to  be 
verbally  communicative. 

"  You  look  knocked  up,"  said  Kettle. 

•'  Might  well  be,"  retorted  Captain  Williams.  "  I 
haven't  had  a  blessed  wink  of  sleep  since  I  pulled 
my  anchors  out  of  Thames  mud." 

*'  Not  had  bad  weather,  have  you  ?  " 

"  No,  weather's  been  right  enough.  Bitthickish, 
that's  all." 

**  What's  kept  you  from  having  a  watch  belov, 
then?" 

"  'Fraid  of  losing  the  ship.  Captain.  I  never  been 
up  before  the  Board  of  Trade  yet,  and  don't  want 
to  try  what  it  leels  like.' 

"  Oh !  "  said  Kettle  with  a  sigh,  "  it's  horrible ; 
they're  brutes.     I  know.     I  have  been  there." 

"  So  I  might  have  guessed,"  said  Williams  drily, 

"  Look  here,"  said  Kettle,  "  what  are  you  driving 
at?" 

"  No  offence.  Captain,  no  offence.  I'll  just  shut 
my  head  now.     Guess  I've  been  talking  too  much 


234  ADVENTURES   OF   CAPTAIN   KETTLE. 

already.  Result  of  being  over-tired,  I  suppose. 
Let's  get  on  with  the  ship's  papers.  They  are  all 
in  this  tin  box." 

"  But  I'd  rather  you  said  out  what  you  got  to 
say. 

"  Thanks,  Captain,  but  no.  This  is  the  first  time 
we've  met,  I  think?" 

"  So  far  as  I  remember." 

"  Well,  there  you  are  then  ;  p^sonally  you  no 
doubt  are  a  very  nice  pleasant  gentleman,  but  still 
there's  no  getting  over  the  fact  that  you're  a  stran- 
ger to  me ;  and  anyway,  you're  in  Gedge's  employ, 
and  I'm  not ;  and  there's  a  law  of  libel  in  this  country 
which  gets  up  and  hits  you  whether  you  are  talking 
truth  or  lies." 

"  English  laws  are  beastly,  and  that's  a  fact." 

"  Reading  about  them  in  the  paper's  quite  enough 
for  me.  Now,  Captain,  suppose  we  go  ashore  with 
these  papers  and  1  can  sign  off  and  you  can  sign  on. 
Afterwards  we'll  have  a  drop  of  whisky  together  if 
you  like  just  to  show  there's  no  ill-will." 

"  You  are  very  polite.  Captain,"  said  Kettle. 
"  I'm  sure  I  don't  like  the  notion  of  stepping  in  to 
take  away  your  employment.  But  if  it  hadn't  been 
me,  he'd  have  got  some  one  else." 

The  other  turned  on  him  quickly. 

"  Don't  think  you're  doing  me  a  bad  turn,  Captain 
because  you  aren't.  I  was  never  so  pleased  to  step 
out  of  a  chart-house  in  my  life.  Only  thing  is,  I 
hope  I  aren't  doing  you  a  bad  turn  by  letting  you 
step  in." 

"  By  James,"  said  Kettle,  "  do  speak  plain,  Cap. 
tain  ;  don't  go  on  hinting  like  this." 


MR.   GEDGE'S  CATSPAW.  235 

"  I  am  maundering  on  too  much,  Captain,  and 
that's  a  fact.  Result  of  being  about  tired-out,  I 
suppose.  But  you  must  excuse  me  speaking  fur- 
ther :  there's  that  confounded  libel  law  to  think 
about.  Now,  Captain,  here's  the  key  of  the  chart- 
house  door,  and  if  you'll  let  me,  I'll  go  out  first  and 
you  can  lock  it  behind  you.  You'll  find  one  of  the 
tumblers  beside  the  water-bottle  broken ;  it  fell  out 
of  my  hand  this  morning  just  after  I'd  docked  her  ; 
but  all  the  rest  is  according  to  the  inventory ;  and 
I'll  knock  off  threepence  for  the  tumbler  when  we 
square  up." 

They  plunged  straightway  into  the  aridities  of 
business,  and  kept  at  it  till  the  captaincy  had 
been  formally  laid  down  and  handed  over,  and 
then  the  opportunity  for  further  revelations  was 
gone. 

Captain  Williams  was  clearly  worn  out  with 
weariness ;  responsibility  had  kept  him  going  till 
then,  but  now  that  responsibility  had  ended  he  was 
like  a  man  in  a  trance.  His  eyes  drooped,  his 
knees  failed  drunkenly ;  he  was  past  speech  ;  and 
if  Kettle  had  not  by  main  force  dragged  him  off  to 
a  bed  at  a  temperance  hotel,  he  would  have  toppled 
down  incontinently  and  slept  in  the  gutter  like  one 
dead.  As  it  was  he  lay  on  the  counterpane  in  the 
heaviest  of  sleep,  the  picture  of  a  strong  man  worn 
out  with  watching  and  labour,  and  for  a  minute  or 
so  Kettle  stood  beside  the  bed  and  gazed  upon  him 
thoughtfully. 

"  By  James,"  he  muttered,  "  if  I  could  make  you 
speak.  Captain,  I  believe  you  could  tell  a  queerish 
tale." 


2^6  ADVENTURES   OF   CAPTAIN   KETTLE. 

But  Kettle  did  not  loiter  by  this  taciturn  bedside. 
He  had  signed  on  as  master  of  the  Sultan  of 
Lahuan  ;  he  was  in  Mr.  Gedge's  employ,  and  earn- 
ing Mr.  Gedge's  pay  ;  and  every  minute  wasted 
on  a  steamer  means  money  lost.  He  went  briskly 
across  to  the  South  dock  and  set  the  machinery  of 
business  to  work  without  delay.  There  was  grum- 
bling from  mates,  engineers,  and  crew  that  they  had 
been  given  leisure  for  scarcely  a  breath  of  shore  air, 
but  Kettle  was  not  a  man  who  courted  popularity 
from  his  underlings  by  offering  them  indulgences. 
He  stated  that  their  duty  was  to  get  the  water  bal- 
last out  and  the  coal  under  hatches  in  the  shortest 
time  on  record,  and  mentioned  that  he  was  the  man 
who  would  see  it  done. 

The  men  grumbled  of  course  ;  behind  their  driver's 
back  they  swore ;  two  deck  hands  and  three  of  the 
stokehold  crew  deserted,  leaving  their  wages,  and 
were  replaced  by  others  from  the  shipping  office ; 
and  still  the  work  went  remorselessly  on  under  the 
grey  glow  of  the  fog  so  long  as  daylight  lasted,  and 
then  under  the  glare  of  raw  electric  arc  lamps.  The 
air  was  full  of  gritty  dust  and  the  roar  of  falling 
coal.  A  waggon  was  shunted  up,  dangled  aloft  in 
hydraulic  arms,  ignominiously  emptied  end  first,  and 
then  put  to  ground  again  and  petulantly  sent  away 
to  find  a  fresh  load,  whilst  its  successor  was  being 
nursed  and  relieved.  Two  hundred  tons  to  the  hour 
was  what  that  hydraulic  staith  could  handle,  but  for 
all  that  it  did  not  break  the  coal  unduly. 

In  the  forehold  the  trimmers  gasped  and  choked 
as  they  steered  the  black  avalanches  into  place  ;  and 
presently  another  of  the  huge  staithes  crawled  up 


MR.    GEDGE'S   CATSPAW.  237 

along  the  dock  wall,  with  a  gasping  tank-loco  and  a 
train  of  waggons  in  attendance,  and  then  the  Sultan 
of  Labuan  was  being  loaded  through  the  after  hatch 
also.  It  was  a  triumph  of  machinery  and  organisa- 
tion, and  tired  men  in  a  dozen  departments  cursed 
Kettle  for  keeping  them  at  such  a  remorseless  pres- 
sure over  their  tasks. 

Down  to  her  fresh-water  plimsol  the  steamer  was 
sunk,  and  then  the  loading  ceased.  Even  Kettle 
did  not  dare  to  overload.  He  knew  quite  well  that 
there  were  the  jealous  eyes  of  a  Seamen  and  Fire- 
men's Union  official  watching  him  from  somewhere 
on  the  quays,  and  if  she  was  trimmed  an  inch  above 
her  marks  the  Sultan  of  Labuan  would  never  be  let 
go  through  the  outer  dock-gate.  So  the  burden 
was  limited  to  its  legal  bounds,  and  Kettle  got  his 
clearance  papers  with  the  same  fierce,  business-like 
bustle  ;  and  came  back  and  stepped  lightly  up  on 
to  the  tramp's  upper  bridge. 

The  pilot  was  there  waiting  for  him,  half  admir- 
ing, half  repelled  :  the  old  blue-faced  mate  and  the 
carpenter  were  on  the  forecastle-head  ;  the  second 
mate  was  aft ;  the  chief  himself  and  the  third  en- 
gineer were  at  the  throttle  and  the  reversing  gear 
below.  The  ship's  entire  complement  had  quite 
surrendered  to  the  sway  of  this  new  task-master, 
and  stood  in  their  coal-grime  and  their  tiredness 
ready  to  jump  at  his  bidding. 

Bristol  Channel  tides  are  high,  and  the  current  of 
the  Usk  is  swift.  It  was  going  to  be  quick  work  if 
they  did  not  miss  the  tide,  and  the  pilot,  who  had 
no  special  stake  in  the  matter,  said  it  could  not  be 
done.     Kettle,  however,  thought  otherwise,  and  the 


238  ADVENTURES  OF  CAPTAIN   KETTLE. 

pilot  in  consequence  saw  some  seamanship  which 
gave  him  chills  down  the  back. 

"  By  gum,  Captain,"  he  said,  when  they  were 
fairly  out  of  the  river,  "  you  can  handle  her." 

"  Wait  till  I  know  her,  pilot,  and  then  I'll  show 
you." 

"  Haven't  got  nerves  enough.  Look  you,  Captain, 
you'll  be  having  a  bad  crumple-up  if  you  bustle  a 
big  loaded  steamboat  about  docks  at  that  rate." 

"  Never  bent  a  plate  in  my  life." 

**  Well,  I  hope  you  never  will.  Look  you,  now, 
you're  a  little  tin  wonder  in  the  way  of  seaman- 
ship." 

"  Quartermaster,"  said  Kettle,  "  tell  my  steward 
to  bring  two  goes  of  whisky  up  here  on  the  bridge. 
Pilot,  if  you  say  such  things  to  me,  you  make  me 
feel  like  a  girl  with  a  new  dress,  and  I  want  a  drop 
of  Dutch  courage  to  keep  my  blushes  back." 

"  Well,"  said  the  pilot  when  the  whisky  came, 
**  here's  lots  of  cargo,  Captain,  and  good  bonuses." 

"  Here's  deep-draught  steamers  for  you,  pilot,  and 
plenty  of  water  under  *em." 

The  whisky  drained  down  its  appointed  channels, 
and  the  pilot  said :  "  By  the  by,  I've  this  for  you, 
Captain,"  and  brought  out  a  letter-card. 

"  Typewritten  address,"  said  Kettle.  "  No  post- 
mark on  the  stamp.     Who's  it  from  ?" 

"  Man  I  came  across.  Look  you,  though,  I  didn't 
know  him  ;  but  he  said  there  was  a  useful  tip  in  the 
letter  which  it  would  please  you  to  have  after  you 
sailed." 

Kettle  tore  off  the  perforated  edges,  and  looked 
inside  the  card.     Here  was  another  anoymous  com* 


MR.   GEDGE'S   CATSPAW,  239 

munication,  also  from  "  Well-wisher,"  and,  as  before 
warning  him  against  the  machinations  of  Gedge. 
"  Got  no  idea  who  the  man  was  who  gave  it  you  ?  " 
he  asked. 

"  Well,  I  did  have  a  bit  of  talk  with  him  and  a 
drink,  and  I  rather  gathered  he  might  have  had 
something  to  do  with  insurance;  but  he  didn't  say 
his  name.     Why,  isn't  he  a  friend  of  yours?" 

"  I  rather  think  he  is,"  said  Kettle  ;  "  but  I  can't 
be  quite  sure  yet."  He  did  not  add  that  the  anony- 
mous writer  guaranteed  him  a  present  of  jCso  if  the 
Sultan  of  Labuan  drew  no  insurance  money  till  he 
had  moored  her  in  Port  Said. 

From  the  very  outset,  the  voyage  of  the  Sultan 
of  Labuan  was  unpropitious.  Before  she  was  clear 
of  the  Usk  it  was  found  that  three  more  of  her  crew 
had  managed  to  slip  away  ashore,  and  so  were  gone 
beyond  replacement.  Whilst  she  was  still  in  the 
brown,  muddy  waters  of  the  Bristol  Channel,  there 
were  two  several  breakdowns  in  the  engine-room 
which  necessitated  stoppages  and  anxious  repairs. 
The  engines  of  the  Sidtayi  of  Labtian  were  her  weak 
spot,  for  otherwise  her  hull  was  sound  enough.  But 
these  machines  were  old,  and  wasteful  in  steam,  and 
made  all  the  difference  in  economy  which  divides  a 
profit  from  a  loss  in  these  modern  days  of  fierce  sea 
competition." 

With  Murgatroyd,  the  old  blue-face  mate,  Kettle 
had  been  shipmates  before,  and  there  existed 
between  the  two  men  a  strong  dislike  and  a  certain 
mutual  esteem.  They  interviewed  over  duty  matters 
when  the  pilot  left.  "  Mr.  Murgatroyd,"  said  the 
little  skipper,  "  you'll  keep  hatches  off,  and  do  every 


240  ADVENTURES   OF  CAPTAIN   KETTLE. 

thing  for  ventilation.  This  Welsh  coal's  as  gassy 
as  petroleum." 

*'  Aye,  aye,"  rumbled  the  mate  ;  "  but  how  about 
when  heavy  weather  comes,  and  the  decks  are  full 
of  water  ?  " 

"You'll  have  fresh  orders  from  me  before  then. 
Get  hoses  to  work  now  and  sluice  down.  The  ship's 
a  pig-stye." 

"Aye,  aye;  but  the  hands  are  dog-tired." 

"Then  it's  your  place  to  drive  them.  I  should 
have  thought  you'd  been  long  enough  at  sea  to 
know  that.  But  if  you  aren't  up  to  your  business, 
just  say,  and  1*11  swop  you  over  with  the  second 
mate  right  now." 

The  old  mate's  face  grew  purpler.  "  If  you  want 
a  driver,"  he  said,  "  you  shall  have  one ;  "  and  with 
that  he  went  his  ways  and  roused  the  tired  deck, 
hands  to  work,  after  the  time-honoured  methods. 

But  if  Captain  Kettle  did  not  spare  his  crew,  he 
was  equally  hard  on  himself.  He  was  at  sea  now 
and  wearing  his  sea-going  conscience,  which  was  an 
entirely  different  piece  of  mental  mechanism  to  that 
which  regulated  his  actions  ashore.  He  had  re- 
ceived Mr.  Gedge's  precise  instructions  to  run  the 
coal  boat  in  the  ordinary  method,  and  he  intended 
to  do  it  relentlessly  and  to  the  letter. 

He  had  had  his  doubts  about  Mr.  Gedge's  real 
wishes  before,  and  even  the  episode  of  Miss  Payne, 
the  typewriter,  had  not  altogether  deceived  him  ; 
but  the  second  letter  from  "  Well-wisher,"  which 
the  pilot  brought  on  board,  cleared  the  matter  up 
beyond  a  doubt.  There  was  not  the  faintest  chance 
that  Gedge  had  written  that ;  there  was  not  the  faint* 


MR.    GEDGE'S  CATSPAW.  24 1 

est  reason  to  disbelieve  now  that  Gedge  wished  his 
uneconomical  steamboat  off  his  hands,  and  had  ar- 
ranged for  her  never  again  to  come  into  port. 

Now,  prop>erIy  approached — say  with  sealed  orders 
to  be  opened  only  at  sea — I  think  there  is  very  little 
doubt  but  what  Captain  Kettle  would  have  under- 
taken to  carry  out  this  piece  of  nefarious  business 
himself.  The  average  mariner  thinks  no  more  of 
"making  the  insurance  pay"  than  the  average 
traveller  does  of  robbing  his  fellow  countrymen  by 
the  importation  of  Belgian  cigars  and  Tauchnitz 
novels  from  a  Channel  packet.  And  with  Kettle, 
too,  loyalty  to  an  employer,  so  long  as  that  employer 
treated  him  squarely,  ranked  high.  But  for  a  second 
time  "  Well-wisher  "  had  repeated  the  word  "  cats- 
paw/*  and  for  his  purpose  he  could  not  have  used  a 
better  spur. 

The  little  captain's  face  grew  grim  as  he  read  it. 
"  By  James  ! "  he  muttered,  "  if  that's  the  game  he's 
trying  to  play,  I'll  make  him  rue  it." 

However,  though  at  the  beginning  of  a  voyage  it 
may  be  easy  to  make  a  resolve  like  this,  it  is  not  so 
easy  to  carry  it  into  practical  effect.  If  the  machinery 
was  on  board,  human  or  otherwise,  for  making  the 
Sultan  of  Labiian  fail  to  reach  port,  it  was  not  at  all 
probable  that  Kettle  would  find  it  before  he  saw  it 
in  working  order.  When  arrangements  for  a  bit  of 
barratry  of  this  kind  are  gone  about  nowadays, 
they  are  performed  with  shrewdness.  Your  inge- 
nious gentlemen,  who  makes  a  devil  of  clockwork  and 
guncotton  to  blow  out  a  steamer's  bottom,  or  makes 
a  compact  with  one  of  her  crew  to  open  the  bilge- 
cocks,  is  dexterous  enough  to  cover  up  his  trail  very 
16 


242  ADVENTURES   OF  CAPTAIN   KETTLE. 

completely,  having  a  wholesome  awe  of  the  law  of 
the  land,  and  a  large  distaste  for  penal  servitude. 

Moreover,  Captain  Owen  Kettle  was  not  the  man 
to  receive  gratuitous  information  on  such  a  point 
from  his  underlings.  To  begin  with,  he  was  the 
Sultan  of  Labuans  captain,  and,  by  the  immemorial 
etiquette  on  the  sea,  a  ship's  captain  is  always  a  man 
socially  apart.  He  is  a  dictator  for  the  time  being, 
with  supreme  power  of  life  and  death  ;  is  addressed 
as  "  Sir ";  and  would  be  regarded  with  social  awe 
and  coldness  by  his  own  brother,  if  the  said  brother 
were  on  board  as  one  of  the  mates  or  one  of  the 
assistant  engineers. 

With  the  chief  engineer  alone,  although  he  does 
not  sit  at  meat  with  him,  may  a  merchant  captain 
unbend,  and  with  the  chief  of  the  Sultan  of  Labiian 
Kettle  had  picked  a  difference  over  a  commission  on 
bunkering  not  ten  minutes  after  he  had  first  stepped 
on  board.  He  had  the  undoubted  knack  of  command- 
ing men ;  he  could  look  exactly  after  his  employer's 
property ;  but  he  had  an  unfortunate  habit  of  making 
himself  hated  in  the  process. 

Over  that  initial  episode  of  washing  the  coal-grime 
from  the  ship's  outer  fabric,  he  had  already  come 
into  intimate  contact  with  his  crew.  The  tired  deck- 
hands had  refused  duty  :  clumsy  old  Murgatroyd 
had  endeavoured  to  force  them  into  it  by  the  time- 
honoured  methods,  and  had  been  knocked  down  in 
the  scuffle  and  trampled  on ;  when  up  came  Kettle, 
already  spruce  and  clean,  and  laid  impartially  into  the 
whole  grimy  gang  of  them  with  a  deck-scrubber. 
They  were  new  to  their  little  skipper's  virtues,  and 
thought  at  first  that  they  would  treat  him  as  they 


MR.   GEDGE'S  CATSPAW.  243 

had  already  treated  the  fat  old  mate,  and  as  a  conse- 
quence bleeding  faces  and  cracked  heads  were  plenti- 
ful, and  curses  went  up,  bitter  and  deep,  in  half  the 
tongues  of  Europe.  But  Kettle  still  remained  spruce 
and  clean,  and  aggressive  and  untouched. 

It  takes  some  art  to  thoroughly  thrash  a  dozen 
savage,  full-grown  men  with  a  light  broom  without 
breaking  the  stick  or  knocking  off  the  head,  and  the 
crew  of  the  Sultan  of  Labuan  were  not  slow  to  rec- 
ognise their  Captain's  ability.  But  at  the  same 
time  they  were  not  inspired  with  any  overpowering 
love  for  him. 

In  the  course  of  that  night  an  iron  belaying-pin 
whisked  up  out  of  the  darkness,  and  knocked  off  his 
cap  as  he  stood  on  the  upper  bridge,  and  just  before 
the  dawn  a  chunk  of  coal  whizzed  up  and  smashed 
itself  into  splinters  on  the  wheelhouse  wall,  not  an 
inch  from  his  ear.  But  as  Kettle  replied  to  the  first 
of  these  compliments  by  three  prompt  revolver 
shots  almost  before  the  thrower  had  time  to  think, 
and  rushed  out  and  caught  the  second  assailant  by 
the  neck-scruff  and  forced  him  to  eat  up  every  scrap 
of  coal  that  had  been  thrown,  the  all-nation  crew  de- 
cided that  he  was  too  ugly  to  tackle  usefully,  and 
tacitly  agreed  to  let  him  alone  for  the  future,  and  to 
do  their  lawful  work.  The  which,  of  course,  was  ex- 
actly what  Kettle  desired. 

By  this  time  the  Sultan  of  Labuan  had  run  down 
the  Cornish  coast,  had  rounded  Land's  End,  and  was 
standing  off  on  a  course  which  would  make  Finis- 
terre  her  next  landfall.  The  glass  was  sinking 
steadily  ;  the  sea-scape  was  made  up  of  blacks  and 
whites  and  lurid  greys ;  but  though  the  air  was  cold 


244  ADVENTURES  OF   CAPTAIN   KETTLE. 

and  raw,  the  weather  was  not  any  worse  than  need 
have  been  expected  for  the  time  of  year.  The 
hatches  were  off,  and  a  good  strong  smell  of  coal-gas 
billowed  up  from  below  and  mingled  with  the  sea 
scents. 

With  all  a  northern  sailor's  distrust  for  a  "Dago," 
Kettle  had  spotted  his  spruce  young  Italian  second 
mate  as  Gedge's  probable  tool,  and  watched  him 
like  the  apple  of  his  eye.  No  man's  actions  could 
have  been  more  innocent  and  normal,  and  this  of 
course,  made  things  all  the  more  suspicious.  The 
engineer  staff,  who  had  access  to  the  bilge-cocks,  and 
could  arrange  disasters  to  machinery,  were  likewise, 
ex  officio,  suspicious  persons,  but  as  it  was  quite  im- 
possible to  overlook  them  at  all  hours  and  on  all 
occasions,  he  had  regretfully  to  take  thero  very 
largely  on  trust. 

Blundering,  incompetent  old  Murgatroyd,  the 
mate,  was  the  only  man  on  board  in  whose  hon- 
esty Kettle  had  the  least  faith,  simply  because 
he  considered  him  too  stupid  to  be  intrusted 
with  any  operation  so  delicate  as  barratry,  and 
to  Murgatroyd  he  more  or  less  confided  his  inten- 
tions. 

"  I  hear  there's  a  scheme  on  board  to  scuttle  this 
steamboat,"  he  said,  "  because  she's  too  expensive  to 
run.  Well,  Mr.  Gedge,  the  owner,  gave  me  orders 
to  run  her,  and  he  told  me  he  made  a  profit  on  her. 
I'm  going  by  Mr.  Gedge's  words,  and  I'm  going  tc 
take  her  to  Port  Safd.  And  let  me  tell  you  this,  if  she 
stops  anywhere  on  the  road,  and  goes  down,  all  hands 
go  down  with  her,  even  if  I  have  to  shoot  them  my- 
self.    So  they'd  better  hear  what's  in  the  wind,  and 


MR.   GEDGE'S   CATSPAW.  245 

have  a  chance  to  save  their  own  skins.  You  under- 
stand what  I  mean  ?  " 

"  Aye,"  grunted  the  mate. 

**  Well,  just  let  word  of  it  slip  out — in  the  right 
way,  you  understand." 

"  Aye,  aye.  Hadn't  we  better  get  the  hatches  on 
and  battened  down  ?  She's  shipping  in  green  pretty 
often  now,  and  the  weather's  worsening.  There's  a 
good  slop  of  water  getting  down  below,  and  they 
say  it's  all  the  bilge  pumps  can  do  to  keep  it  under." 

•*  Mr.  Meddle  Murgatroyd,"  Kettle  snapped,  "are 
you  master  of  this  blamed  ship,  or  am  I  ?  You 
leave  me  to  give  my  orders  when  I  think  Bt,  and  get 
down  off  this  bridge." 

"  Aye,"  grunted  the  mate,  and  waddled  clumsily 
down  below. 

The  old  man's  suggestion  about  the  hatches  had 
touched  upon  a  sore  point.  Kettle  knew  quite  well 
that  it  was  dangerous  to  leave  the  great  gaps  in  the 
decks  undefended  by  planking  and  tarpaulin.  A 
high  sea  was  running,  and  the  heavy-laden  coal-boat 
rode  both  deep  and  sodden.  Already  he  had  put 
her  a  point  and  a  half  to  westward  of  her  course,  so 
as  to  take  the  oncoming  seas  more  fairly  on  the 
bow. 

But  still  he  hung  on  to  the  open  hatches.  The  coal 
below  was  gassy  to  a  degree,  and  if  the  ventilation 
was  stopped  it  would  be  terribly  liable  to  explosion. 
The  engine  and  boiler  rooms  were  bulkheaded  off, 
and  there  was  no  danger  from  these ;  but  the  subtle 
coal-gas  would  spread  over  all  the  rest  of  the  vessel's 
living  quarters — as  the  smell  hinted — and  a  carelessly 
lit  match  might  very  comfortably  send  the  whole  of 


246  ADVENTURES   OF  CAPTAIN  KETTLE. 

her  decks  hurtling  into  the  air.  Kettle  had  no  wish 
to  meet  Mr.  Gedge's  unspoken  wishes  by  an  accident 
of  this  sort. 

However,  it  began  to  be  plain  that  as  they  drew 
nearer  to  the  Bay  the  weather  worsened  steadily, 
and  at  last  it  came  to  be  a  choice  between  battening 
down  the  hatches  both  forward  and  aft,  or  being  in- 
continently swamped.  Hour  after  hour  Kettle  in  his 
glistening  oilskins  had  been  stumping  backwards  and 
forwards  across  the  upper  bridge,  watching  his  steam- 
boat like  a  cat,  and  holding  on  with  his  order  to  the 
very  furthest  moment.  But  at  last  he  gave  the 
command  to  batten  down,  and  both  watches  rushed 
to  help  the  carpenter  carry  it  out.  The  men  were 
horribly  frightened.  It  seemed  to  them  that  in  that 
gale,  and  with  that  sea  running,  it  was  insane  not  to 
have  battened  her  down  long  before. 

The  hands  clustered  on  the  lurching  iron  decks 
with  the  water  swirling  against  them  waist-high,  and 
shipped  the  heavy  hatch  covers,  and  got  the  tarpau- 
lins over;  and  then  the  Norwegian  carpenter  keyed 
all  fast  with  the  wedges,  working  like  some  amphi- 
bious animal  half  his  time  under  water. 

The  Sultan  of  Labuan  was  fitted  with  no  cowl 
ventilators  to  her  holds,  and  even  if  these  had  been 
fitted  they  would  have  been  carried  away.  So  from 
the  moment  of  battening  down,  the  gas  which  oozed 
from  the  coal  mixed  with  the  air  till  the  whole  ship 
became  one  huge  explosive  bomb,  which  the  merest 
spark  would  touch  off.  Captain  Kettle  called  his 
mate  to  him  and  gave  explicit  orders. 

"  You  know  what  a  powder  hulk  is  like,  Mr. 
Mate?" 


MR.    GEDGE'S   CATSPAW.  247 

"  Aye,"  said  Murgatroyd. 

"  Well,  this  ship  is  a  sight  more  dangerous,  and 
we  have  got  to  take  care  if  we  do  not  want  to  go  to 
Heaven  quick.  It's  got  to  be  *  all  lights  out  *  aboard 
this  ship  till  the  weather  eases  and  we  can  get 
hatches  off  again.  Go  round  now  and  see  it  done 
yourself,  Mr.  Murgatroyd,  please.  Watch  the  doc- 
tor dowse  the  galley  fire,  and  then  go  and  take  away 
all  the  forecastle  matches  so  the  men  can't  smoke. 
Put  out  the  side  lights,  the  masthead  light,  and  the 
binnacle  lamps.  Quartermasters  must  steer  as  best 
they  can  from  the  unlit  card." 

"  Aye,  aye.  But  you  don't  mean  the  side  lights 
too,  do  ye  ?  There's  a  big  lot  of  shipping  here  in 
the  Bay,  and  we  might  easy  get  run  down — "  The 
old  man  caught  an  ugly  look  from  Kettle's  face  and 
broke  off.  And  grumbling  some  ancient  saw  about 
*'  obeying  orders  if  you  break  owners,"  he  shuffled 
off  down  the  ladder. 

Heavier  and  heavier  grew  the  squalls,  carr}'ing 
with  them  spindrift  which  beat  like  gravel  against 
the  two  oilskinned  tenants  of  the  collier's  upper 
bridge  ;  worse  and  worse  grew  the  sea.  Great,  green 
waves  reared  up  like  walls,  crashed  on  board,  and 
filled  the  lower  decks  with  boiling,  yeasty  surge. 
The  funnel-stays  and  the  scanty  rigging  hummed 
like  harp  strings  to  the  gale. 

Deep  though  she  was  in  the  water,  there  were 
times  when  her  stern  heaved  up  clear,  and  the  pro- 
peller raced  in  a  noisy  catherine-wheel  of  fire  and 
foam.  On  every  side,  ahead,  abeam,  and  astern, 
were  nodding  yellow  lights,  jerked  about  by  unseen 
ships   over   thunderous,    unseen    waves.     It   was  a 


248  ADVENTURES   OF  CAPTAIN   KETTLE. 

regular  Biscay  gale,  such  as  all  vessels  may  count 
on  in  that  corner  of  the  seas  one  voyage  out  of  eight, 
a  gale  with  heavy  seas  in  the  midst  of  a  dense  crowd 
of  shipping.  But  there  was  nothing  in  it  which  sea- 
manship under  ordinary  circumstances  could  not 
meet. 

Captain  Kettle  hung  on  hour  after  hour  under 
shelter  of  the  dodgers  on  the  upper  bridge,  a  small, 
wind-brushed  figure  in  yellow  oilskins  and  black  rub- 
ber thigh-boots.  About  such  a  "breeze"  in  an  or- 
dinary way  he  would  have  thought  little.  Taking 
his  vessel  through  it  with  the  minimum  of  danger 
was  only  part  of  the  daily  mechanical  routine.  But 
he  stood  there  a  prey  to  the  liveliest  anxiety. 

The  thousand-and-one  dangers  in  the  Bay  ap- 
peared before  him  magnified.  If  the  ship  for  any 
sudden  and  unavoidable  reason  went  down,  the  odds 
were  that  he  himself  and  all  hands  would  be  drowned  ; 
but  at  the  same  time  Gedge  would  be  gratified  in  so 
easily  touching  the  coveted  insurance  money.  The 
fear  of  death  did  not  worry  the  little  skipper  in  the 
very  least  degree  whatever,  but  he  had  a  most 
thorough  objection  to  being  in  any  way  Mr.  Gedge's 
catspaw. 

Twice  they  had  near  escapes  from  being  run 
down.  The  first  time  was  from  a  sodden  blunder- 
ing Cardiff  ore  steamer,  which  was  driving  north 
through  the  thick  of  it,  with  very  little  of  herself 
showing  except  two  stumpy  masts  and  a  brine- 
washed  smokestack.  She  would  have  obviously 
drowned  out  any  lookout  on  her  fore  deck,  and  the 
bridge  officers  got  too  much  spindrift  in  their  eyes 
to  see  with  any  clearness.     But  time  is  money,  and 


MR.   GEDGE'S   CATSPAW.  249 

even  Cardiff  ore  steamers  must  make  passages,  and 
so  her  master  drove  her  blindly  ahead  full  steam, 
slap-slop-wallow,  and  trusted  that  other  people 
would  get  out  of  his  way. 

Kettle's  keen  eyes  picked  her  up  out  of  the  sea 
mists  just  in  time,  and  ported  his  own  helm,  and 
missed  her  sheering  bow  with  the  Sultan  of  Labuan  s 
quarter  by  a  short  two  fathoms.  A  touch  in  that 
insane  turmoil  of  sea  would  have  sent  both  steamers 
down  to  the  shells  and  the  flickering  weed  below ; 
but  there  was  no  touch,  and  so  each  went  her  way 
with  merely  a  perfunctory  interchange  of  curses, 
which  were  blown  into  nothingness  by  the  gale. 
Escapes  on  these  occasions  didn't  count,  and  it  is 
etiquette  not  to  speak  about  them  ashore  afterwards. 

The  second  shave  came  from  a  big  white-painted 
Cape  liner,  which  came  up  from  astern,  lit  like  a 
theatre,  and  almost  defying  the  very  gale  itself. 
Her  lookouts  and  officers  were  on  the  watch  for 
lights.  But  the  unlit  collier,  which  was  half  her 
time  masked  by  the  seas  like  a  half-tide  rock,  never 
struck  their  notice. 

Kettle,  with  all  a  shipmaster's  sturdy  dislike  for 
shifting  his  helm  when  he  legally  had  the  right  of 
the  road,  held  on  till  the  great  knife-like  bow  was 
not  a  score  of  yards  from  his  taffrail.  But  then  he 
gave  way,  roared  out  an  order  to  the  quartermaster 
at  the  wheel,  and  the  Sultan  of  Labuan  fell  away  to 
starboard.  As  if  the  coal-boat  had  been  a  magnet, 
the  Cape  liner  followed,  drawing  nearer  hand  over 
fist. 

Changing  direction  further  was  as  dangerous  as 
keeping  on    as   he  was,  so   Kettle   bawled  to  the 


250  ADVENTURES  OF  CAPTAIN  KETTLE. 

quartermaster  to  "  Steady  on  that,"  and  then  the 
great,  white  steam-hotel  suddenly  seemed  to  wake 
to  her  danger,  and  swerved  off  on  her  old  course 
again.  So  close  were  they,  that  Kettle  fancied  he 
could  hear  the  quick,  agitated  rattle  of  her  wheel 
engines  as  they  gave  her  a  "  hard  down  "  helm. 
And  he  certainly  saw  officers  on  her  high  upper- 
bridge  peering  at  him  through  the  drifting  sea- 
smoke  with  a  curiosity  that  was  more  than  pleasant. 

"  Trying  to  pick  out  the  old  tub's  name,"  he 
mused  grimly,  "so  as  to  report  me  for  carrying  no 
lights.  By  James,  I  wish  some  of  those  dandy  pas- 
senger-boat officers  could  try  this  low-down  end  of 
the  tramping  trade  for  a  bit." 

Night  went  and  day  came,  gray,  and  wet,  and 
desolate.  The  heavier  squalls  had  passed  away, 
but  a  whole  gale  still  remained,  and  the  sea  was,  if 
anything,  heavier.  The  coal-boat  rarely  showed  all 
of  herself  at  once  above  the  waters.  Her  progress 
was  a  succession  of  dives,  her  decoration  (when  she 
was  visible)  a  fringe  of  .spouting  scuppers.  Watch 
had  succeeded  watch  with  the  dogged  patience  of 
sailor  men ;  but  watch  after  watch  Kettle  hung  on 
behind  the  canvas  dodgers  at  the  weather  end  of 
the  bridge.  He  was  red-eyed  and  white-cheeked, 
his  torpedo  beard  was  foul  with  sea  salt,  he  was  un- 
pleasant to  look  upon,  but  he  was  undeniably  very 
much  awake,  and  when  the  accident  came  (which  he 
concluded  was  Mr.  Gedge's  effort  to  realise  the  coal- 
boat's  insurance),  he  was  quite  ready  to  cope  with 
emergencies. 

From  somewhere  in  the  bowels  of  the  ship  there 
came  the  muffled  boom  of  an  explosion ;  the  bridge 


MR.   GEDGE'S   CATSPAW.  .    25! 

buckled  up  beneath  his  feet,  so  that  he  was  very 
nearly  wrenched  from  his  hold  ;  and  the  iron  main 
deck,  which  at  that  moment  happened  to  be  free  of 
water,  rippled  and  heaved  like  a  tin  biscuit-bo3< 
moves  when  it  is  kicked.  There  was  a  tinkle  of 
broken  glass  as  some  blown-out  skylights  crashed 
back  upon  the  deck. 

He  looked  forward  and  he  looked  aft,  and  to  his 
surprise  saw  that  both  hatches  were  still  in  place 
and  that  very  little  actual  damage  was  visible,  and 
then  he  had  his  attention  occupied  by  another  mat- 
ter. From  the  stoke-hold,  from  the  forecastle,  and 
from  the  engine-room  the  frightened  crew  poured 
out  into  the  open,  and  some  scared  wretch  cried 
out  to  "  lower  away  zem  boats." 

Here  was  a  situation  that  needed  dealing  with  at 
once,  and  Kettle  was  the  man  to  do  it.  From  be- 
neath his  oilskins  he  lugged  out  the  revolver  which 
they  knew  so  painfully  already,  and  showed  it  with 
ostentation.  "By  James,"  he  shouted,  "do  you 
want  to  be  taught  who's  captain  here  ?  I'll  give 
cheap  lessons  if  you  ask." 

His  words  reached  them  above  the  hooting  and 
brawl  of  the  gale,  and  they  were  cowed  into  sullen 
obedience. 

"  Carpenter,  take  a  couple  of  men  and  away  be- 
low with  you  and  see  what's  broke.  You  blessed, 
split-trousered  mechanics,  away  down  to  your  en- 
gine-room or  I'll  come  and  kick  you  there.  The 
second  mate  and  his  watch  get  tarpaulins  over  those 
broken  skylights.  Where's  Mr.  Murgatroyd?  In 
his  bunk,  I  suppose,  as  usual  ;  not  his  watch  :  no 
affair  of  his  if  the  ship's  blown  to  Heaven  when  he's 


252  ADVENTURES  OF  CAPTAIN  KETTLE. 

off  duty.  Here,  you  steward,  go  and  turn  out  Mr. 
Murgatroyd." 

The  men  bustled  about  after  their  errands,  and 
the  engines  which  had  stopped  for  a  minute,  began 
to  rumble  on  again.  Captain  Kettle  paraded  the 
swaying  bridge  and  awaited  developments. 

Presently  the  bareheaded  steward  fought  his  way 
up  the  bridge-ladder  against  the  tearing  wind,  and 
bawled  out  some  startling  news.  "It's  Mr.  Mur- 
gatroyd's  room  that's  been  blown  up,  sir,  made  a 
*orrid  mess  of.  Chips  says  'e  picked  up  'is  lighted 
pipe  in  the  alleyway,  sir,  an'  it  must  a'  been  that 
Jhat  fired  the  gas." 

"  The  blamed  old  thickhead,"  said  Kettle  savagely. 

"  'E  was  arskin  *  for  you,  sir,  was  the  mate, 
though  we  couldn't  rightly  make  out  what  'e  said." 

"  He  won't  be  pleased  to  see  me.  Smoking,  by 
James,  was  he  ?  " 

"The  mate's  burnt  up  like  a  piece  of  coke,"  said 
the  steward  persuasively.     "  *E  cawn't  last  long." 

The  carpenter  came  up  on  the  bridge.  "  Dose 
blow-up  vas  not  so  bad  for  der  ole  ship,  sir.  She 
nod  got  any  plates  started  dot  I  can  see.  Dey 
have  der  bilge-pumps  running,  but  der's  nod  much 
water.  Und  der  mate,  sir.  He  say  he  vould  like 
to  see  you.     He's  in  ver'  bad  way." 

"All  right,"  said  Kettle,  "  I'll  go  and  see  him." 
He  called  up  the  Italian  second  mate  on  to  the 
bridge  and  gave  over  charge  of  the  ship  to  him,  and 
then  went  below. 

The  author  of  all  the  mischief,  the  stupid  old  man 
who,  through  sheer  crass  ignorance,  had  gone  to  bed 
and  smoked  a  pipe  in  this  powder  mine,  lay  horribly 


MR.   GEDGE'S   CATSPAW.  253 

injured  in  the  littered  alleyway,  with  a  burst  straw 
cushion  under  the  shocking  remnants  of  his  head. 
Most  of  his  injuries  were  plain  to  the  eye,  and  it 
was  a  marvel  that  he  lingered  on  at  all.  It  was  very 
evident  that  he  could  not  live  for  long,  and  it  was 
clear,  too,  that  he  wanted  to  speak. 

Kettle's  resenment  died  at  the  sight  of  this  poor 
charred  cinder  of  humanity,  and  he  knelt  in  the 
litter  and  listened.  The  sea  noises  and  the  ship 
noises  without  almost  drowned  the  words,  and  the 
old  mate's  voice  was  very  weak.  It  was  only  here 
and  there  he  could  pick  up  a  sentence. 

**■  Nearly  got  to  ivind'ard  of  you,  skipper.  .  .  .  It 
was  me.  .  .  .  Gedge  paid  me  fifty  pound  for  the  job 
.  .  .  scuttle  her  ,  .  .  after  Gib  .  .  .  would  *a  done 
it,  too  .     .  .  iti  spite  of  your  blooming  teeth" 

The  old  fellow  broke  ofT,  and  Kettle  leant  near 
to  him.  "  How  were  you  going  to  scuttle  her? "he 
asked. 

There  was  no  answer.  A  second  time  he  repeated 
the  question,  and  then  again  a  third  time.  The 
mate  heard  him.  The  sea  roared  outside,  the  wind 
boomed  overhead,  the  cluttered  wreckage  clanged 
about  the  alleyway.  The  old  man  was  past  speech 
but  he  opened  an  eye,  his  one  remaining  eye,  and 
slowly  and  solemnly  winked. 

It  was  his  one  recorded  attempt  at  humour  during 
a  lifetime,  and  the  effort  was  his  last.  His  jaw 
dropped,  wagging  to  the  thud  of  the  ship,  his 
eye  opened  in  a  glassy,  unseeing  stare,  and  he  was 
as  dead  a  thing  as  the  iron  deck  he  lay  upon. 

"  Well,  matey,**  said  Kettle,  apostrophising  the 
poor  charred  form,  "  we've  been  shipmates  before. 


254  ADVENTURES   OF   CAPTAIN   KETTLE. 

but  I  never  liked  you.  But,  by  James,  you  had 
your  points.  You  shall  be  buried  by  2^ pukka  parson 
in  Gib,  and  have  a  stone  put  over  your  ugly  old  head, 
if  I  have  to  pay  for  it  myself.  I  think  I  can  hammer 
out  a  bit  of  verse,  too,  which'll  make  that  stone  a 
thing  people  will  remember. 

•'  By  James,  though,  won't  Gedge  be  mad  over 
this  !  Gedge  will  think  I  spotted  the  game  you 
were  playing  for  him,  and  murdered  you  out  of 
hand.  Well,  that's  all  right,  and  it  won't  hurt 
you,  matey.  I  want  Gedge  to  understand  I'm  a 
man  that's  got  to  be  dealt  straight  with.  I  want 
Mr.  Blessed  Gedge  to  understand  that  I'm  not  the 
kind  of  lamb  to  make  into  a  catspaw  by  any  manner 
of  means.  I  bet  he  does  tumble  to  that,  too.  But 
I  bet  also  that  he  sacks  me  from  this  berth  before 
I've  got  the  coals  over  into  the  lighters  at  Port 
Said.  By  James,  yes,  Gedge  is  a  man  that  sticks  to 
his  plans,  and  as  he  can't  lose  the  Sultan  of  Labuan 
with  me  as  her  skipper,  he'll  jerk  another  old  man 
into  the  chart-house  on  the  end  of  a  wire,  who'll  do 
the  job  more  to  his  satisfaction.'* 

The  Norwegian  carpenter  came  up,  and  asked  a 
question. 

"  No,  no,  Chips ;  put  the  canvas  away.  I  want 
you  to  knock  up  some  sort  of  a  box  for  the  poor  old 
mate,  and  we'll  take  him  to  Gib,  and  plant  him 
there  in  style.  I  owe  him  a  bit.  We'll  all  get  safe 
enough  to  Port  Said  now." 


CHAPTER  XI. 

THE  SALVING  OF  THE  DUNCANSBY  HEAD. 

**  The  boat's  an  old  P.  and  O.  lifeboat,"  said  Mr. 
McTodd,  "  diagonal-built  of  teak,  and  quite  big 
enough  for  the  purpose.  Of  course,  something 
with  steam  in  her  would  be  better,  because  we're 
both  steamer-men ;  but  that's  out  of  the  question. 
That  would  mean  too  many  to  share.  So  the  thing 
is,  can  you  buy  this  lifeboat  and  victual  her  for  the 
trip  ?  I'm  no'  what  ye  might  call  a  capitalist  my- 
self, just  for  the  moment." 

Captain  Kettle  eyed  the  grimy  serge  of  his  com- 
panion with  disfavour.  "  You  don't  look  it,"  he 
said.  '*  That  last  engine-room  you  got  sacked  from 
must  have  been  a  mighty  filthy  place." 

"  'Twas,"  said  McTodd.  "  But  as  it  happened,  I 
didn't  get  the  sack.  I  ran  from  her  here  in  Gib  be- 
cause I'd  no  wish  to  get  back  to  England  and  have 
this  news  useless  in  my  pocket.  And,  of  course,  I 
had  to  let  slide  the  eight  pound  in  wages  that  was 
due  to  me." 

"  By  James,  it's  beginning  to  look  like  business 
when  a  Scottie  runs  away  from  siller  that  he's  righte- 
ously earned." 

"Well,  I'm  no'  denying  it  was  a  speculation.  It's 
a  bit  of  a  speculation,  if  ye  come  to  reckon  up,  ask- 

255 


256  ADVENTURES   OF  CAPTAIN   KETTLE. 

ing  a  newly-sacked  sea  captain  to  join  in  such  a 
venture." 

Kettle's  face  hardened.  "  See  here,"  he  said, 
"keep  a  civil  tongue  in  your  head,  or  go  out  of  this 
lodging.  I'm  to  be  treated  with  respect,  or  I  don't 
deal  with  you." 

"  Then  let  my  clothes  alone  and  be  civil  yourself. 
It's  a  mighty  dry  shop  this,  Captain." 

"  I've  no  whisky  in  the  place  nor  spare  money  to 
buy  it.  If  we're  to  go  on  with  this  plan  of  yours, 
we  shall  want  every  dollar  that  can  be  raised." 

"That's  true,  and  neither  me  nor'Tonio  have  ten 
shillings  between  us." 

Kettle  gave  up  pacing  the  room  and  sat  himself 
on  the  edge  of  the  table  and  frowned.  "  I  don't 
see  the  use  of  taking  either  Antonio,  if  that's  his 
name,  or  your  other  Dago.  I  don't  like  the  breed 
of  them.  You  and  I  would  be  quite  enough  to 
handle  an  open  boat,  and  quite  able  to  take  care  of 
ourselves.  If  the  wreck's  got  the  money  on  her, 
and  we  finger  it,  we'll  promise  to  bring  them  back 
their  share  all  right ;  and  if  the  thing's  a  fizzle,  as 
it's  very  likely  to  be,  well,  they'll  be  saved  a  very 
unpleasant  boat-cruise." 

"  It's  no  go,"  said  the  engineer,  "  and  you  may 
make  up  your  mind  to  have  them  as  shipmates. 
Captain,  or  sit  here  on  your  tail  where  you  are. 
D'ye  think  I've  any  appetite  for  Dagos  myself? 
No,  sir,  no  more  than  you.  I  don't  trust  them  no 
more  than  a  stripped  thread.  And  they  don't  trust 
me.  They  wouldn't  trust  you.  They  would  no' 
trust  the  Provost  of  Edinboro'  if  he  was  to  make 
similar  proposals  to  them." 


THE   SALVING  OF  THE  DUNCANSBY   HEAD.      257 

•*  Then  have  you  no  idea  where  this  steamboat 
was  put  on  the  ground  ?  " 

"  Man,  I've  telled  ye  *  no'  already." 

"  Seems  to  me  you  don't  know  much,  Mr.  Mc- 
Todd." 

"  I  don't.  What  I  know  is  this :  I  came  ashore 
here  after  a  vera  exhausting  trip  down  the  Mediter- 
ranean, just  for  a  drink  to  fortify  the  system  against 
the  chills  on  the  run  home.  I  went  to  a  little  dark 
shebeen,  where  I  kenned  the  cut-throat  in  charge, 
and  gave  the  name  of  the  ship  I  wanted  sending 
back  to,  in  case  sleep  overcame  me,  and  settled 
down  for  an  afternoon's  enjoyment.  Ye'U  ken  what 
I  mean  ?" 

"  I  know  you're  a  drunken  beast  when  you  get 
the  chance  for  an  orgie." 

"  I  have  my  weaknesses,  Captain,  or  maybe  I'd 
no*  have  left  Ballindrochater,  where  my  father  was 
Free  Kirk  Meenister.  We  both  have  our  weak- 
nesses, Captain  Owen  Kettle,  and  it's  they  that 
have  brought  us  to  what  we  are." 

"  If  you  don't  leave  me  alone  and  get  on  with 
your  yarn,"  said  Kettle  acidly,  "you'll  find  yourself 
in  the  street." 

'•  Oh,  I  like  your  hospitality  fine,  and  I'll  stay, 
thanks.  Weel,  I'd  just  settled  myself  down  to  a 
good  square  drink  at  this  Spaniard's  shebeen,  when 
out  of  a  dark  corner  comes  'Tonio  and  the  other 
Dago,  bowing  and  taking  off  their  hats  as  polite  as 
though  I'd  been  an  archbishop  at  the  very  least. 

"  I'd  met  'Tonio  in  Lagos.  He  was  greaser  on  a 
branch  boat  there,  and  I  was  her  second  engineer. 
He's  some  English,  and  he  did  the  talking.  The 
17 


258  ADVENTURES   OF  CAPTAIN  KETTLE. 

Other  Dago  knew  nothing  but  his  own  unrighteous 
tongue,  and  just  said  see-see  when  'Tonio  explained 
to  him  what  was  going  on,  and  grinned  like  a  bagful 
of  monkeys.  I  give  'Tonio  credit :  he  spat  out  his 
tale  like  a  man.  He  and  his  mate  were  in  the  stoke- 
hold of  a  Dago  steamboat  coming  from  the  River 
Plate  to  Genoa,  and  calling  at  some  of  the  Western 
Islands  en  route. 

"  One  night  they  were  just  going  off  watch,  and 
were  leaning  over  the  rail  to  get  a  breath  of  cool 
air  before  turning  in.  They  were  steaming  past 
some  rocky  islands,  and  there  in  plain  sight  of  them 
was  a  vessel  hard  and  fast  ashore.  There  was  no 
mistake  about  it :  they  both  saw  her :  a  steamboat 
of  some  fifteen  hundred  tons.  And  what  was  more, 
the  other  Portugee,  'Tonio's  friend,  said  he  knew 
her.  According  to  him  she  was  the  Duncansby 
Head.  He'd  served  in  her  stokehold  three  voyages, 
and  he  said  he'd  know  her  anywhere." 

"  A  Dago's  word  isn't  worth  much  for  a  thing 
like  that,"  said  Kettle. 

"  Wait  a  bit.  The  pair  of  them  stayed  where 
they  were  and  looked  at  the  rest  of  the  watch  on 
deck.  The  second  mate  on  the  bridge  was  staring 
ahead  sleepily ;  the  quartermaster  at  the  wheel  was 
nodding  and  blinking  at  the  binnacle  ;  the  lookout 
on  the  forecastle  was  seated  on  a  fife-rail,  snoring; 
no  one  of  these  had  seen  the  wreck.  And  so  they 
themselves  didn't  talk.  Their  boat  was  running 
short  of  coal,  and  so  she  put  into  Gib  here  to  re- 
bunker  ;  and  from  another  Dago  on  the  coal-hulk, 
who  came  aboard  to  help  trim,  they  got  some  news. 
The  Duncansby  Head  had  shifted  her  cargo  at  sea. 


THE   SALVING   OF   THE   DUN'CANSBY   HEAD.      259 

had  picked  up  heavy  weather  and  got  unmanageable, 
and  had  been  left  by  her  crew  in  the  boats.  The 
mate's  boat  and  the  second  mate's  boat  were  picked 
up ;  the  old  man's  boat  had  not  been  heard  of.  It 
was  supposed  that  the  Dzincansby  Head  herself  had 
foundered  immediately  after  .she  was  deserted." 

"  Yes,  all  that's  common  gossip  on  the  Rock. 
Mulready  was  her  skipper:  J.  R.  Mulready:  I'd 
known  him  years." 

"  Weel,  poor  deevil,  it's  perhaps  good  for  him  he's 
drowned." 

"  Yes,  I  suppose  it  is.  He's  saved  a  sight  of 
trouble.  D'ye  know,  Mac,  Jimmy  Mulready  and  I 
passed  for  mate  the  same  day,  and  went  to  sea  with 
our  bran-new  tickets  in  the  same  ship,  him  as  mate, 
me  as  second." 

"  The  sea's  an  awful  poor  profession  for  all,  except 
a  shipowner  that  lives  ashore." 

"  *Tis.  Yes,  that's  a  true  word.  It  is.  And  so 
Antonio  and  his  mate  told  the  other  Dago  that 
they'd  seen  the  wreck  ?  " 

"  Not  much.  They  kept  their  heads  shut.  There 
was  money  in  the  idea  if  it  could  only  be  worked, 
and  a  Portugee  likes  dollars  as  much  as  a  white  man. 
So  there  you  have  the  whole  yarn,  except  that  they 
got  to  know  that  the  Diincansby  was  on  her  way 
home  after  a  long  spell  at  tramping  when  she  got 
into  trouble,  and  carried  all  the  money  she'd  earned 
in  good  solid  gold  in  the  chart-house  drawer." 

"  It  sounds  a  soft  thing,  I'll  not  deny,"  said  Kettle. 
*•  But  why  should  Mr.  Antonio  and  his  friend  come 
to  you  ?  " 

"  They  ran  from  their  ship  here  in  Gib,  and  laid 


26o  ADVENTURES   OF   CAPTAIN   KETTLE. 

low  till  she  had  sailed.  It  was  the  natural  thing  for 
them  to  do.  But  when  they  began  to  look  round 
them  in  cold  blood,  they  found  themselves  a  bit  on 
the  beach.  They'd  no  money  ;  there's  such  a  shady 
crowd  here  in  Gib  that  everything's  well  watched, 
and  they  couldn't  steal ;  and  so  there  was  nothing 
for  it  but  to  take  a  partner  into  the  concern.  Of 
course  being  Dagos,  they  weren't  likely  to  trust  one 
of  their  own  sort." 

"Not  much.     And  so  they  came  to  you  ?  " 

"They  knew  me,"  said  the  engineer.  "And  I 
came  to  you  because  I  knew  you,  Captain.  I'm  no 
navigator  myself,  though  I  can  make  shift  to  handle 
a  sail  boat,  so  a  navigator  was  wanted.  I  said  to 
myself  the  man,  in  all  creation  for  this  job  is  Captain 
Kettle,  and  then  what  should  I  do  but  run  right  up 
against  you." 

"  Thank  you,  Mac." 

"  But  there's  one  other  thing  you'll  have  to  do, 
and  that's  buy,  beg,  borrow  or  steal  the  ship  to  carry 
the  expedition,  because  the  rest  of  us  can't  raise  a 
blessed  shilling  amongst  us.  It  needn't  be  a  big 
outlay.  That  old  P.  and  O.  lifeboat  which  I  was 
talking  about  would  carry  us  fine,  and  I  think  three 
five-pound  notes  would  buy  her." 

"  Very  well,"  said  Kettle.  "  And  now  let's  get  a 
move  on  us.  There's  been  enough  time  spent  in 
talk,  and  the  sooner  we're  on  that  wreck  the  less 
chance  there  is  of  any  one  else  getting  there  to  over- 
haul her  before  us." 

It  would  be  unprofitable  to  follow  in  detail  the 
fitting  out  of  this  wrecking  expedition  upon  insuflfi- 


THE   SALVING   OF  THE   DUNXANSBY   HEAD.      26 1 

dent  capital,  and  so  be  it  briefly  stated  that  the  old 
lifeboat  (which  had  passed  through  many  hands 
since  she  was  cast  from  the  P.  and  O.  service)  was 
purchased  by  dint  of  haggling  for  an  absurdly  small 
sum,  and  victualled  and  watered  for  eighteen  days. 
The  Portuguese,  who  still  refused  to  disclose  the 
precise  location  of  the  wreck,  said  that  it  might  take 
a  fortnight  to  reach  her,  and  prudence  would  have 
suggested  that  it  was  advisable  to  take  at  least  a 
month's  provisions.  But  the  meagreness  of  their 
capital  flatly  forbade  this,  and  they  were  only  able 
to  furnish  the  boat  with  what  would  spin  out  to 
eighteen  days  on  an  uncomfortably  short  ration. 
They  trusted  that  what  pickings  they  might  find  in 
the  storerooms  of  the  wreck  herself  would  provide 
them  for  the  return  voyage. 

With  this  slender  equipment  then,  they  sailed 
forth  from  Gibraltar  Bay,  an  obvious  party  of  adven- 
turers. They  were  bombarded  by  the  questions  and 
the  curious  stares  of  all  the  shipping  interest  on  the 
Rock;  they  were  flatly  given  to  understand  by  a 
naval  busybody  (who  had  been  bidden  carry  his  in- 
quisitiveness  to  the  deuce)  that  they  had  earned 
ofificial  suspicion,  and  would  be  watched  accordingly: 
and  if  ever  ill-wishes  could  sink  a  craft,  that  ancient 
P.  and  O.  lifeboat  was  full  to  her  marks. 

The  voyage  did  not  begin  with  prosperity.  There 
is  always  a  strong  surface  current  running  in  through 
the  Straits,  and  just  then  the  breezes  were  light 
The  lifeboat  was  a  dull  sailer,  and  her  people  in 
consequence  had  the  mortification  of  keeping  Car- 
nero  Point  and  the  frowning  Rock  behind  in  sight 
for  three  baking  days.     The  two  Portuguese  were 


262  ADVENTURES   OF   CAPTAIN   KETTLE. 

first  profane,  then  sullen,  then  frightened ;  some 
saint's  day,  it  appeared,  had  been  violated  by  the 
start ;  and  they  began  first  to  hint  at,  and  then  to 
insist  on  a  return.  To  which  Kettle  retorted  that 
he  was  going  to  see  the  matter  through  now,  if  he 
had  to  hang  in  the  Straits  for  the  whole  eighteen 
days,  and  subsist  for  the  rest  of  the  trip  upon  dew 
and  theii  belts  ;  and  in  this  McTodd  backed  him  up. 

Once  started  and  away  from  the  whisky  bottle, 
there  was  nothing  very  yielding  about  Mr.  McTodd. 
Only  one  compromise  did  Kettle  offer  to  make.  He 
would  stand  across  and  drop  his  Portuguese  partners 
on  the  African  shore  if  they  on  their  part  would  dis- 
close the  whereabouts  of  the  wreck  ;  and  in  due 
time,  when  the  dividends  were  gathered,  he  faith- 
fully promised  them  their  share.  But  to  this  they 
would  not  consent.  In  fact,  there  was  a  good  deal 
of  mutual  distrust  between  the  two  parties. 

At  last,  however,  a  kindly  slant  of  wind  took  the 
lifeboat  in  charge,  and  hustled  her  wetly  out  into 
broad  Atlantic  ;  and  when  they  had  run  the  shores 
of  Europe  and  Africa  out  of  sight,  and  there  was 
nothing  round  them  but  the  blue  heaving  water,  with 
here  and  there  a  sail  and  a  steamer's  smoke,  then 
Senhor  Antonio  saw  fit  to  give  Captain  Kettle  a 
course. 

"  We  was  steamin'  froma  Teneriffe  co  Madeira  when 
we  saw  thosea  rocks  with  Duncansby  Head  asho*.** 

"  H'm,"  said  Kettle.  "  Those'll  be  the  Salvage 
Islands." 

"  Steamah  was  pile  up  on  de  first.  'Nother  island 
we  pass  after." 

"  That's  riton  Island  if  I  remember.     Let's  have 


THE  SALVING  OF  THE  DUNCANSBY  HEAD.      263 

a  look  at  the  chart."  He  handed  over  the  tiller  to 
McTodd,  took  a  tattered  Admiralty  chart  from  one 
of  the  lockers,  and  spread  it  on  the  damp  floor 
gratings.  The  two  Portuguese  helped  with  their 
brown  paws  to  keep  it  from  fluttering  away.  "  Yes, 
either  Little  Piton  or  Great  Piton.  Which  side  did 
you  pass  it  on  ?  " 

Antonio  thumped  a  gunwale  of  the  lifeboat. 

"  Kept  it  on  the  port  hand  going  North,  did  you  ? 
Then  that'll  be  Great  Piton,  and  a  sweet  shop  it  is 
for  reefs  according  to  this  chart.  I  wish  I'd  a  Di- 
rectory. It  will  be  a  regular  cat's  dance  getting  in. 
But  I  say,  young  man,  isn't  there  a  light  there?" 

"Lighta?     I  not  understand." 

"  You  savvy — lighthouse — faro — show-mark-light 
in  dark?" 

"  Oh,  3'es,  lighta-house.  I  got  there.  No,  no 
lighta-house." 

"  Well,  there's  one  marked  here  as  *  prqy'ected,'  and 
I  was  afraid  it  might  have  come.  I  forgot  the 
Canaries  were  Spanish,  and  Madeira  was  Portugee, 
and  that  these  rocks  which  lie  halfway  would  be 
a  sort  of  slack  cross  between  the  pair  of  them. 
Mananas  the  motto,  isn't  it,  Tonio?  Never  do  to- 
day what  you  hope  another  flat  will  do  for  you  to- 
morrow." 

"  Si,  si,  matiana"  said  the  Portuguese,  who  had  not 
understood  one  word  in  ten  of  all  this.  "  Manana  we 
find  rich,  plenty  too-much  rich.     God  sava  Queen  !" 

"  Those  Canaiy  fishing  schooners  land  on  the 
Salvages  sometimes,"  said  McTodd,  "  so  I  heard 
once  in  Las  Palmas." 

*'  I  guess  we  got  to  take  our  chances,  Mac.     If 


264  ADVENTURES  OF  CAPTAIN  KETTLE. 

the  old  wreck's  been  overhauled  before  we  get  there, 
it's  our  back  luck ;  if  she  hasn't  been  skimmed  clean, 
we'll  take  what  there  is,  and  I  fancy  we  shall  be  men 
enough  to  stick  to  it.  It  isn't  as  if  she  was  piled  up 
on  some  civilised  beach,  with  coastguards  to  take 
possession  and  all  the  rest  of  it.  The  islands  are 
either  Spanish  or  Portugee.  They  belong  to  a  pack 
of  thieves  anyway ;  and  we've  just  as  much  right  to 
help  ourselves  as  anyone  else  has.  What  we've  got 
to  do  at  present  is  to  shove  this  old  ruin  of  a  life- 
boat along  as  though  she  were  a  racing  yacht.  At 
the  shortest  we've  got  seven  hundred  miles  of  blue 
water  ahead  of  us." 

Open-boat  voyaging  in  the  broad  Atlantic  may 
have  its  pleasures,  but  these,  such  as  they  were,  did 
not  appeal  to  either  Kettle  or  his  companions. 
They  were  thoroughgoing  steamer  sailors  ;  they  de- 
spised sails ;  and  the  smallness  of  their  craft  gave 
them  qualms  both  mental  and  physical.  By  day  the 
sun  scorched  them  with  intolerable  glare  and  vio- 
lence ;  by  night  the  clammy  sea  mists  drenched  them 
to  the  bone. 

For  a  larger  vessel  the  weather  would  have  been 
accounted  favourable  ;  for  their  cockle-shell  it  was 
once  or  twice  terrific.  In  two  squalls  that  they  ran 
into,  breaking  combers  filled  the  lifeboat  to  the 
thwarts,  and  they  had  to  bale  for  their  bare  lives. 
They  were  cramped  and  sore  from  their  constrained 
position  and  want  of  exercise  ;  they  got  sea-sores  on 
their  wrists  and  salt-grime  on  every  inch  of  their 
persons  ;  they  were  growing  gaunt  on  the  scanty 
rations  ;  and,  in  fact,  a  better  presentation  of  a  boat 


THE  SALVING  OF  THE  DUNCANSBY  HEAD.      265 

full  of  desperate  castaways  it  would  be  hard  to  hit 
upon.  Flotillas  of  iridescent,  pink-sailed  nautilus 
scudded  constantly  beside  them,  dropping  as  con- 
stantly astern  ;  and  these  made  their  only  company. 
Except  for  the  nautilus,  the  sea  seemed  desolate. 

In  this  guise  then  they  ended  their  voyage,  which 
had  spun  out  to  nigh  upon  a  thousand  miles  through 
contrary  winds  and  the  necessity  for  incessant  tack- 
ing ;  and  in  the  height  of  one  blazing  afternoon  they 
rose  to  the  tops  of  the  islands  out  of  a  twinkling  tur- 
quoise sea. 

These  appeared  first  as  mere  dusty  black  rocks 
sticking  up  out  of  the  calm  blue — Great  Salvage 
Island  to  the  northward,  and  Great  Piton  to  the  south 
and  beyond — but  they  grew  as  the  boat  neared  them, 
and  presently  appeared  to  be  built  upon  a  frieze  of 
dazzling  feathery  whiteness.  The  lifeboat  swept  on 
to  reach  them,  climbing  and  diving  over  the  rollers. 
She  had  canvas  decks,  quartermast  high,  contrived 
to  throw  off  the  sprays ;  and  over  these  the  faces  of 
her  people  peered  ahead,  wild  and  gaunt,  salt-crusted 
and  desperate. 

Great  Salvage  Island  drew  abeam  and  passed  away 
astern ;  Great  Piton  lay  close  ahead  now,  fringed 
with  a  thousand  reefs,  each  with  its  spouting  break- 
ers. The  din  of  the  surf  came  to  them  loudly  up 
the  wind.  A  flock  of  seafowl,  screaming  and  circling, 
sailed  out  to  escort  them  in  ;  and  ahead,  behind  the 
banks  of  breakers,  drawing  them  on  as  water  will 
draw  a  choking  man,  was  the  rusted  smokestack  and 
stripped  masts  of  a  derelict  merchant  steamer. 

There  is  a  yarn  about  an  open  boat  which  had 
voyaged  twelve  hundred  miles  over  the  lonely  Pacific, 


266  ADVENTURES  OF  CAPTAIN  KETTLE. 

coming  upon  a  green  atoll,  and  being  sailed  reck- 
lessly in  through  the  surf,  and  drowning  every  soul 
on  board  ;  and  the  yarn  is  easily  believable.  Captain 
Kettle  and  his  companions  had  undergone  horrible 
privations  ;  here,  at  last,  was  the  isle  of  their  hopes, 
and  the  treasure  (as  it  seemed)  in  full  view  ;  but,  by 
some  intolerable  fate,  they  were  barred  from  it  by 
relentless  walls  of  surf.  Kettle  ran  in  as  close  as  he 
dared,  and  then  flattened  in  his  sheets,  and  sailed 
the  lifeboat  close-hauled  along  the  noisy  line  of  the 
breakers  to  the  Norrard,  looking  for  an  opening. 

The  two  Portuguese  grumbled  openly,  and  when 
not  a  ghost  of  a  landing-place  showed,  and  Kettle 
put  her  about  to  sail  back  again,  even  the  cautious 
McTodd  put  up  his  word  to  "  run  in,  and  risk  it." 

But  Kettle,  though  equally  sick  as  they  were  of 
the  boat  and  her  voyage,  had  all  a  sailor's  dislike  for 
losing  his  ship  whatever  she  might  be,  and  cowed 
them  all  with  voice  and  threats  ;  and  at  last  his  for- 
bearance was  rewarded.  A  slim  passage  through 
the  reef  showed  itself  at  the  southern  end  of  the 
island ;  and  down  it  they  dodged,  trimming  their 
sheets  six  times  a  minute,  with  an  escort  of  dangers 
always  close  on  either  hand ;  and  finally  ran  into  a 
rocky  bay  which  held  comparatively  smooth  water. 

There  was  no  place  to  beach  the  boat ;  they  had 
to  anchor  her  off ;  but  with  a  whip  on  the  cable  they 
were  able  to  step  ashore  on  a  ledge  of  stone,  and 
then  haul  the  boat  off  again  out  of  harm's  way. 

It  may  be  thought  that  they  capered  with  delight 
at  treading  on  dry  land  again  ;  but  there  was  nothing 
of  this.  With  their  cramped  limbs  and  disused 
joints,  it  was  as  much  as  they  could  do  to  hobble, 


THE  SALVING   OF  THE  DUNCANSBY   HEAD.      267 

and  every  step  was  a  wrench.  But  the  lure  ahead 
of  them  was  great  enough  to  triumph  over  minor 
difficulties.  Half  a  mile  away  along  the  rocks  was 
the  Duncansby  Head,  and  for  her  they  raced  at  the 
top  of  their  crippled  gait.  And  theseafowl  screamed 
curiously  above  their  heads. 

They  scratched  and  tore  themselves  in  this  fran- 
tic progress  over  the  sharp  volcanic  rocks,  they 
choked  with  thirst,  they  panted  with  their  labor  ; 
but  none  of  these  things  mattered. 

The  deserted  steamer,  when  they  came  to  her, 
was  lying  off  from  the  shore  at  the  other  side  of  a 
lake  of  deep  water.  But  they  were  fit  for  no  more 
waiting,  and  each,  as  he  came  opposite  her,  waded 
in  out  of  his  depth,  and  swam  off  with  eager  strokes. 
Davit-falls  trailing  in  the  water  gave  them  an  en- 
trance way,  and  up  these  they  climbed  with  the 
quickness  of  apes ;  and  then,  with  one  accord,  they 
made  for  the  pantry  and  the  steward's  storeroom. 
The  gold  which  had  lured  them  was  forgotten  ;  the 
immediate  needs  of  their  famished  bodies  were 
the  only  things  they  remembered.  They  found  a 
cheese,  a  box  of  musty  biscuits,  and  a  filter  full  of 
stale  and  tepid  water;  and  they  gorged  till  they 
were  filled,  and  swore  they  had  never  sat  to  so  deli- 
cious a  meal. 

With  repletion  came  the  thoughts  of  fortune 
again,  and  off  they  went  to  the  charthouse  to  finger 
the  coveted  gold.  But  here  was  a  disappointment 
ready  and  waiting  for  them.  They  had  gone  up  in 
a  body,  neither  nationality  trusting  the  other,  and 
together  they  ransacked  the  place  with  thorough, 
ness.     There  were  papers  in  abundance,  there  were 


268  ADVENTURES   OF  CAPTAIN   KETTLE. 

clothes  furry  with  mildew,  there  was  a  broken  box 
of  cheap  cigars;  but  of  money  there  was  not  so 
much  as  a  bronze  piece. 

"  Eh,  well,"  said  Kettle,  sitting  back  on  the 
musty  bedclothes,  "  we  have  had  our  trouble  for 
nothing.  Some  one's  been  here  first,  and  skimmed 
the  place  clean.  By  James,  yes.  And  look  on  the 
floor  there.  See  those  cigarette  ends  ?  They're 
new  and  dry.  If  the  old  man  had  been  a  cigarette 
smoker  he  wouldn't  have  chucked  his  butts  on  his 
charthouse  deck,  and,  even  if  he  had  done,  they'd 
have  been  washed  to  bits  when  she  was  hove  down 
on  her  beam  ends.  You  can  see  by  the  decks  out- 
side that  she's  been  pretty  clean  swept.  No,  it's 
those  fishermen,  as  you  say,  who  have  been  here 
before  us." 

"  Well,"  said  McTodd,  "  if  I  were  a  swearer,  I 
could  say  a  deal." 

"  The  Dagos  are  swearing  enough  for  the  whole 
crowd  of  us,  to  judge  by  the  splutter  of  them. 
The  money's  gone  clean.  It's  vexing,  but  that's  a 
fact.     Still,  I  don't  like  to  go  back  empty-handed." 

**  I'm  as  keen  as  yoursel'.  There's  that  eight 
pound  of  my  wages  I  left  when  I  ran  in  Gib,  that's 
got  to  be  made  up  somehow.  What's  wrong  with 
getting  off  the  hatches,  and  seeing  how  her  cargo's 
made  up  ?  " 

"  She's  loaded  with  hides.  I  saw  it  on  the  mani- 
fest.  There  was  Jimmy  Mulready's  scrawl  at  the 
foot  of  it.  That  photo  there  above  the  bed-foot 
will  be  his  wife.  Poor  old  Jimmy.  He  got  religion 
before  I  did,  and  started  his  insurance,  too,  and,  if 


THE  SALVING  OF  THE  DUNCANSBY   HEAD.      269 

he's  kept  them  both  up,  he  and  his  widow  ought  to 
be  all  right —     By  James,  did  you  feel  that  ?  " 

McTodd  stared  round  him. 

"  What  ?  "  he  asked. 

"  She  moved. 

"  I  took  it  for  sure  she  was  on  the  ground." 

"  So  did  I.  But  she  isn't.  There,  you  can  feel 
her  lift  again." 

They  went  out  on  deck.  The  sun  was  already 
dipping  in  the  western  sea  behind  the  central  hill  of 
the  island,  and  in  another  few  minutes  it  would  be 
dark.  There  is  little  twilight  so  far  south.  So  they 
took  cross  bearings  on  the  shore,  and  watched  in- 
tently. Yes,  there  was  not  a  doubt  about  it.  The 
Duncansby  Head  floated,  and  she  was  moving  across 
the  deep  water  lake  that  held  her. 

"  Mon ! "  said  the  engineer  enthusiastically, 
**yeVe  a  great  head,  and  a  great  future  before  you. 
I'd  never  have  guessed  it." 

"  I  took  it  for  granted  she'd  beaten  her  bottom 
out  in  getting  here  ;  but  she's  blundered  in  through 
the  reefs  without  touching ;  and  if  she's  come  in, 
she  can  get  out  again,  and  we're  the  fellows  to  take 
her." 

"With  engines." 

"  With  engines,  yes.  If  she's  badly  broken  down 
in  the  hardware  shop,  we're  done.  I'd  forgotten 
the  machinery,  and  that's  a  fact.  We'll  find  a  lan- 
tern, and  I'll  go  down  with  you,  Mac,  and  give 
them  an  inspect." 

The  two  Portuguese  had  already  sworn  themselves 
to   a  standstill,   and   had   gone   below   and   found 


270  ADVENTURES   OF  CAPTAIN  KETTLE. 

bunks ;  but  the  men  from  the  little  islands  in  the 
North  had  more  energy  in  their  systems,  and  they 
expanded  it  tirelessly.  McTodd  overhauled  every 
nut,  every  bearing,  every  valve,  every  rod  of  the  en- 
gines with  an  expert's  criticism,  and  found  nothing 
that  would  prevent  active  working ;  Kettle  rum- 
maged the  rest  of  the  ship  ;  and  far  into  the  morning 
they  foregathered  again  in  the  charthouse,  and 
compared  results. 

She  had  been  swept,  badly  swept  ;  everything 
movable  on  deck  was  gone ;  cargo  had  shifted,  and 
then  shifted  back  again  till  she  had  lost  all  her  list 
and  was  in  proper  trim  ;  the  engines  were  still  work- 
able if  carefully  nursed ;  and,  in  fact,  though  bat- 
tered, she  was  entirely  seaworthy.  And  while  with 
tired  gusto  they  were  comparing  these  things,  weari- 
ness at  last  got  the  better  of  them,  and  first  one  and 
then  the  other  incontinently  dropped  off  into  the 
deadest  of  sleep. 

That  the  Duncansby  Head  had  come  in  unsteered 
and  unscathed  through  the  reefs,  and  therefore 
under  steam  and  control  could  go  out  again,  was  on 
the  face  of  it  a  very  simple  and  obvious  theory  to 
propound ;  but  to  discover  a  passage  through  the 
rocks  to  make  this  practicable  was  quite  another 
matter.  For  three  days  the  old  P.  and  O.  lifeboat 
plied  up  and  down  from  outside  the  reefs  and  had 
twenty  narrow  escapes  from  being  smashed  into 
staves.  It  looked  as  if  Nature  had  performed  a 
miracle,  and  taken  the  steamer  bodily  in  her  arms, 
and  lifted  her  over  at  least  a  dozen  black  walls  of 
stone. 

The  two  Portuguese  were  already  sick  to  death  of 


THE  SALVING   OF  THE   DUNCANSBY   HEAD.      2/1 

the  whole  business,  but  for  their  feelings  neither 
Kettle  nor  McTodd  had  any  concern  whatever. 
They  were  useful  in  the  working  of  the  boat, 
and  therefore  they  were  taken  along,  and  when 
they  refused  duty  or  did  it  with  too  much  listlessness 
to  please,  they  were  cuffed  into  activity  again. 
There  was  no  verbal  argument  about  the  matter, 
"  Work  or  Suffer "  was  the  simple  motto  the 
two  islanders  went  upon,  and  it  answered  admi- 
rably. They  knew  the  breed  of  the  Portuguese  of 
old. 

At  last,  by  dint  of  daring  and  toil,  the  secret  of 
the  pass  through  the  noisy  spouting  reefs  was  won  ; 
it  was  sounded  carefully  and  methodically  for  sunken 
rocks,  and  noted  in  all  possible  ways ;  and  the 
P.  and  O.  lifeboat  was  hoisted  on  the  Duncansbys 
davits.  The  Portuguese  were  driven  down  into  the 
stokehold  to  represent  double  watches  of  a  dozen 
men  and  make  the  requisite  steam ;  McTodd  fingered 
the  rusted  engines  like  an  artist  ;  and  Kettle  took 
his  stand  alone  with  the  steam  wheel  on  the  upper 
bridge. 

They  had  formally  signed  articles,  and  appor- 
tioned themselves  pay,  Kettle  as  Master,  McTodd 
as  Chief  Engineer,  and  the  Portuguese  as  firemen, 
because  salvage  is  apportioned  pro  rata,  and  the 
more  pay  a  man  is  getting  the  larger  is  his  bonus. 
On  which  account  (at  McTodd's  suggestion)  they 
awarded  themselves  paper  stipends  which  they 
could  feel  proud  of,  and  put  down  the  Portuguese 
for  the  ordinary  fireman's  wages  then  paid  out  of 
Gibraltar,  neither  more  nor  less.  For,  as  the  engineer 
said:   "There  was  a  fortune  to  be  divided  up  some- 


2/2  ADVENTURES   OF   CAPTAIN   KETTLE. 

how,  and  it  would  be  a  pity  for  a  pair  of  unclean 
Dagos  to  have  more  than  was  absolutely  necessary, 
seeing  that  they  would  not  know  what  to  do  with 
it." 

Captain  Kettle  felt  it  to  be  one  of  the  supreme 
moments  of  his  life  when  he  rang  on  the  Duncansbys 
bridge  telegraph  to  "  Half-speed  ahead."  Here  was 
a  bid  for  fortune  such  as  very  rarely  came  in  any 
shipmaster's  way  ;  not  getting  salvage,  the  larger 
part  of  which  an  owner  would  finger,  for  mere  as- 
sistance, but  taking  to  port  a  vessel  which  was  dere- 
lict and  deserted — the  greatest  and  the  rarest  plum 
that  the  seas  could  offer.  It  was  a  thought  that 
thrilled  him. 

But  he  had  not  much  time  for  sentimental  mus- 
ings in  this  strain.  A  terribly  nervous  bit  of  pilot- 
age lay  ahead  of  him  ;  the  motive  power  of  his 
steamer  was  feeble  and  uncertain ;  and  it  would 
require  all  his  skill  and  resourcefulness  to  bring  her 
out  into  deep  blue  water.  Slov/ly  she  backed  or 
went  ahead,  dodging  round  to  get  a  square  entrance 
to  the  fairway,  and  then  with  a  slam  Kettle  rang  on 
his  telegraph  to  "  Full  speed  ahead,"  so  as  to  get 
her  under  the  fullest  possible  command. 

She  darted  out  into  the  narrow,  winding  lane  be- 
tween the  walls  of  broken  water,  and  the  roar  of  the 
surf  closed  round  her.  Rocks  sprang  up  out  of  the 
deep— hungry  black  rocks,  as  deadly  as  explosive 
torpedoes.  With  a  full  complement  of  hands,  and 
with  a  pilot  for  years  acquainted  with  the  place,  it 
would  have  been  an  infinitely  dangerous  piece  of 
navigation ;  with  a  half-power  steamer  which  had 
only  one  man  all  told  upon  her  decks,  and  he  almo-^t: 


THE   SALVING   OF   THE   DUNCANSBY   HEAD.      273 

a  stranger  to  the  place,  it  was  a  miracle  how  she 
got  out  unscathed.  But  it  was  a  miracle  assisted  by 
the  most  brilliant  skill.  Kettle  had  surveyed  the 
channel  in  the  lifeboat,  and  mapped  every  rock  in 
his  head,  and  when  the  test  came  he  was  equal  to 
it.  It  would  be  hard  to  come  across  a  man  of  more 
iron  nerve. 

Backing,  and  going  ahead,  to  get  round  right- 
angled  turns  of  the  fairway,  shaving  reefs  so  closely 
that  the  wash  from  them  creamed  over  her  rail,  the 
battered  old  tramp  steamer  faced  a  million  dangers 
for  every  fathom  of  her  onward  way  ;  but  never 
once  did  she  actually  touch,  and  in  the  end  she  shot 
out  into  the  clear,  deep  water,  and  gaily  hit  diamonds 
from  the  wavetops  into  the  sunshine. 

It  is  possible  for  a  man  to  concentrate  himself  so 
deeply  upon  one  thing  that  he  is  deaf  to  all  else  in 
the  world ;  and  until  he  had  worked  the  Duncansby 
Head  ovX  into  the  open.  Captain  Kettle  was  in  this 
condition.  He  was  dimly  conscious  of  voices  hail- 
ing him,  but  he  had  no  leisure  to  give  them  heed. 
But  when  the  strain  was  taken  off,  then  there  was 
no  more  disregarding  the  cries.  He  turned  his  head, 
and  saw  a  half-sunk  raft,  which  seven  men  with 
clumsy  paddles  were  frantically  labouring  towards 
him  along  the  outer  edge  of  the  reefs. 

Without  a  second  thought  he  rang  off  engines, 
and  the  steamer  lost  her  way  and  fell  into  the  trough 
and  waited  for  them.  From  the  first  he  had  a  fore- 
boding as  to  who  they  were ;  but  the  men  were  obvi- 
ously castaway  ;  and  by  all  the  laws  of  the  sea  and 
humanity  he  was  bound  to  rescue  them. 

Ponderously  the  raft  paddled  up  and  got  under 
18 


274  ADVENTURES  OF  CAPTAIN  KETTLE. 

the  steamer's  lee.  Kettle  came  down  off  the  bridge 
and  threw  them  the  end  of  a  halliard,  and  eagerly 
enough  they  scrambled  up  the  rusted  plating,  and 
clambered  over  the  rail.  They  looked  around  them 
with  curiosity,  but  with  an  obvious  familiarity. 

"  I  left  my  pipe  stuck  behind  that  stanchion,"  said 
one,  "  and,  by  gum,  it's  there  still." 

"  Fo'c's'le  door's  stove  in,"  said  another;  "  I 
wonder  if  they've  scoffed  my  chest." 

"  You  Robinson  Crusoes  seem  to  be  making  your- 
selves at  home,"  said  Kettle. 

One  of  the  men  knuckled  his  shock  of  hair.  *'  We 
was  on  her,  sir,  when  she  happened  her  accident. 
We  got  off  in  the  Captain's  boat,  and  she  was 
smashed  to  bits  landing  on  great  Salvage  yonder. 
We've  been  living  there  ever  since  on  rabbits  and 
gulls  and  cockles  till  we  built  that  raft  and  ferried 
over  here.  It  was  tough  living,  but  I  guess  we  were 
better  off  than  the  poor  beggars  that  were  swamped 
in  the  other  boats." 

"  The  other  two  boats  got  picked  up." 

**  Did  they  though  ?  Then  I  call  it  beastly  hard 
luck  on  us." 

"Captain  Mulready  was  master,  wasn't  he?  Did 
he  get  drowned  when  your  boat  went  ashore?" 

The  sailor  shrugged  his  shoulders.  "  No,  sir. 
Captain  Mulready's  on  the  raft  down  yonder.  He 
feels  all  crumpled  up  to  find  the  old  ship's  afloat, 
and  you've  got  her  out.  She'd  a  list  on  when  we 
left  her  that  would  have  scared  Beresford,  but  she's 
chucked  that  straight  again  ;  and  who's  to  believe 
it  was  ever  there  ?  " 

Kettle  grated  his  teeth.     "  Thank,  you,  my  lad," 


THE   SALVING   OF   THE   DUNCANSBY   HEAD.      275 

he  said.  "  I  quite  see.  Now  get  below  and  find 
yourself  something  to  eat,  and  then  you  go  forrard 
and  turn  too."  Then,  leaning  his  head  over  the 
bulwark,  he  called  down  :  "  Jimmy  !  " 

The  broken  man  on  the  raft  looked  up.  "  Hullo, 
Kettle,  that  you  ?  " 

"Yes.     Come  aboard." 

"No,  thanks.  I'm  off  back  to  the  island.  I'll 
start  a  picnic  there  of  my  own.    Good  luck,  old  man." 

"  If  you  don't  come  aboard  willingly,  I'll  send  and 
have  you  fetched.     Quit  fooling." 

"  Oh,  if  you're  set  on  it,"  said  the  other  tiredly, 
and  scrambled  up  the  rope.  He  looked  around  with 
a  drawn  face.  "  To  think  she  should  have  lost  that 
list,  and  righted  herself  like  this.  I  thought  she 
might  turn  turtle  any  minute  when  we  quitted  her ; 
and  I'm  not  a  scary  man  either." 

"  I  know  you  aren't.  Come  into  the  charthouse 
and  have  a  drop  of  whisky.  There's  your  missus' 
photo  stuck  up  over  the  bed-foot.     How's  she?  " 

"  Dead,  I  hope.  It  will  save  her  going  to  the 
workhouse." 

"  Oh,  rats.     It's  not  as  bad  as  that." 

"If  you'll  tell  me  why  not  ?  I  shall  lose  my  ticket 
over  this  job,  sure,  when  it  comes  before  the  Board 
of  Trade,  and  what  owner's  likely  to  give  me  another 
ship  ?  " 

"Well,  Jimmy,  you'll  have  to  sail  small,  and  live 
on  your  insurance." 

"  I  dropped  that  years  ago,  and  drew  out  what 
there  was.  Had  to — with  eight  kids,  you  know. 
They  take  a  lot  of  feeding." 

"  Eight  kids,  by  James!  " 


276  ADVENTURES  OF  CAPTAIN  KETTLE. 

"  Yes,  eight  kids,  poor  little  beggars,  and  the 
missus  and  me  all  to  go  hungry  from  now  onwards. 
But  they  do  say  workhouses  are  very  comfortable 
nowadays.  You'll  look  in  and  see  us  sometimes — 
won't  you,  Kettle?"  He  lifted  the  glass  which  had 
been  handed  to  him.  "  Here's  luck  to  you,  old  man, 
and  you  deserve  it.  I  bought  that  whisky  from  a 
chandler  in  Rio.     It's  a  drop  of  right,  isn't  it  ?  " 

"  Here,  chuck  it,"  said  Kettle. 

"  I'm  sorry,"  said  Captain  Mulready,  "  but  you 
shouldn't  have  had  me  on  board.  I  should  have 
been  better  picknicking  by  myself  on  Great  Piton 
yonder.  I  can't  make  a  cheerful  shipmate  for  you, 
old  man." 

"  Brace  up,"  said  Kettle. 

"  By  the  Lord,  if  I'd  only  been  a  day  earlier  with 
that  raft,"  said  the  other  musingly,  "  I  could  have 
taken  her  out,  as  you  have  done,  and  brought  her 
home  and  I  believe  the  firm  would  have  kept  me  on. 
There  need  have  been  no  inquiry  ;  only  '  delayed,* 
that's  all ;  no  one  cares  so  long  as  a  ship  turns  up 
sometime." 

**  It  wouldn't  have  made  any  difference,"  said 
Kettle,  frowning.  "  Some  of  those  lousy  Portuguese 
have  been  on  board  and  scoffed  all  the  money." 

"  What  money  ?  " 

"  Why,  what  she'd  earned.  What  there  was  in 
the  charthouse  drawer." 

The  dishevelled  man  gave  a  tired  chuckle.  "  Oh, 
that's  all  right.  I  put  in  at  Las  Palmas,  and  trans- 
ferred it  to  the  bank  there,  and  sent  home  the  re- 
ceipt by  the  B,  and  A.  mail  boat  to  Liverpool.  No, 
I'm  pleased  enough  about  the  money.     But  it's  this 


THE  SALVING  OF  THE  DUNCANSBY   HEAD.      2/7 

Other  thing  I  made  the  bungle  of,  just  being  a  day 
too  late  with  that  raft." 

Kettle  heard  a  sound  and  sharply  turned  his  head. 
He  saw  a  grimy  man  in  the  doorway.  "  Mr.  Mc- 
Todd,"  he  said, "  who  the  mischief  gave  you  leave  to 
quit  your  engine-room  ?  Am  I  to  understand  you've 
been  standing  there  in  that  doorway  to  listen  ?  " 

"  Her  own  engineer's  come  back,  so  I  handed  her 
over  to  him  and  came  on  deck  for  a  spell.  As  for 
listening,  I've  heard  every  word  that's  been  said. 
Captain  Mulready,  you  have  my  vera  deepest  con- 
dolences." 

"  Mr.  McTodd,"  said  Kettle,  with  a  sudden  blaze 
of  fury,  "  I'm  captain  of  this  ship,  and  you're  intrude 
ing.  Get  to  Hamlet  out  of  here."  He  got  up  and 
strode  furiously  out  of  the  door,  and  Mr.  McTodd 
retreated  before  him. 

"  Now  keep  your  hands  off  me,"  said  the  engineer. 
*'  I'm  as  mad  about  the  thing  as  yourself,  and  I 
don't  mind  blowing  off  a  few  pounds  of  temper.  I 
don't  know  Captain  Mulready,  and  you  do,  but  I'd 
hate  to  see  any  man  all  crumpled  up  like  that  if  I 
could  help  it." 

"  He  could  be  helped  by  giving  him  back  his  ship, 
and  I'd  do  it  if  I  was  by  myself.  But  I've  got  a 
Scotch  partner,  and  I'm  not  going  to  try  for  the 
impossible." 

"  Dinna  abuse  Scotland,"  said  McTodd,  wagging 
a  grimy  forefinger.  **  It's  your  ain  wife  and  bairns 
ye're  thinking  about." 

"  I  ought  to  be,  Mac,  but,  God  help  me !  I'm 
not." 

"  Varra  weel,"  said  McTodd  ;  "  then,  if  that's  the 


278  ADVENTURES  OF  CAPTAIN  KETTLE. 

case,  skipper,  just  set  ye  doon  here  and  we'll  have  a 
palaver." 

"  I'll  hear  what  you've  got  to  say,"  said  Kettle 
more  civilly,  and  for  the  next  half-hour  the  pair  of 
them  talked  as  earnestly  as  only  poor  men  can  talk 
when  they  are  deliberately  making  up  their  minds 
to  resign  a  solid  fortune  which  is  already  within 
their  reach.  And  at  the  end  of  that  talk  Captain 
Kettle  put  out  his  hand  and  took  the  engineer's  in 
a  heavy  grip.  "  Mac,"  he  said,  "  you're  Scotch, 
but  you're  a  gentleman  right  through  under  your 
clothes." 

"  I  was  born  to  that  estate,  skipper,  and  I  no 
more  wanted  to  see  yon  puir  deevil  pulled  down  to 
our  level  than  you  do.  Better  go  and  give  him  the 
news,  and  I'll  get  our  boat  in  the  water  again,  and 
revictualled." 

"  No,"  said  Kettle,  "  I  can't  stand  by  and  be 
thanked.     You  go.     I'll  see  to  the  boat." 

"  Be  hanged  if  I  do  !  "  said  the  engineer.  "  Write 
the  man  a  letter.  You're  great  on  the  writing  line : 
I've  seen  you  at  it." 

And  so  in  the  tramp's  main  cabin  below  Captain 
Kettle  penned  this  epistle  : 

To  Captain  J.  R.  Muuieady. 
Dear  Jimmy, 

Having  concluded  not  to  take  trouble  to  work  Duncansby 
Hsad  home,  have  pleasure  in  leaving  her  to  your  charge.  We, 
having  other  game  on  hand,  have  now  taken  French  leave,  and 
shall  now  bear  up  for  Western  Islands.  You've  no  call  to  say 
anything  about  our  being  on  board  at  all.  Spin  your  own 
yam,  it  will  never  be  contradicted. — Yours  truly, 
O.  Kettle  (Master), 
p.  p.  N.  A.  McToDD  (Chief  Engineer),  O.  K- 


THE  SALVING   OF  THE  DUNCANSBY   HEAD.      2/9 

P.S.— We  taken  along  these  two  Dagos.  If  you  had  them 
they  might  talk  when  you  got  them  home.  We  having  them, 
they  will  not  talk.  So  you've  only  your  own  crowd  to  keep 
from  talking.     Good  luck,  old  tintacks. 

Which  letter  was  sealed  and  nailed  up  in  a  con- 
sptcuous  place  before  the  lifeboat  left  en  route  for 
Grand  Canary. 

It  was  the  two  Portuguese  who  felt  themselves 
principally  aggrieved  men.  They  had  been  made 
to  undergo  a  great  deal  of  work  and  hardship ;  they 
had  been  defrauded  of  much  plunder  which  they 
quite  considered  was  theirs,  for  the  benefit  of  an 
absolute  stranger  in  whom  they  took  not  the  slight- 
est interest ;  and,  finally,  they  were  induced  "  not 
to  talk  "  by  processes  which  jarred  upon  them  most 
unpleasantly. 

They  did  not  talk,  and  in  the  fulness  of  time  they 
returned  to  the  avocation  of  shovelling  coal  on 
steam  vessels.  But  when  they  sit  down  to  think, 
neither  Antonio  nor  his  friend  (whose  honoured 
name  I  never  learned)  regard  with  affection  those 
little  islands  in  the  Northern  Sea,  which  produced 
Captain  Owen  Kettle  and  his  sometime  partner,  Mr. 
Neil  Angus  McTodd. 


CHAPTER  XII. 

THE   WRECK  OF   THE   CATTLE-BOAT. 

There  was  considerable  trouble  and  risk  in  bring- 
ing the  lifeboat  up  alongside,  but  it  must  be  granted 
that  she  was  very  unhandy. 

The  gale  that  had  blown  them  out  into  the  At- 
lantic had  moderated,  certainly,  though  there  was 
still  a  considerable  breeze  blowing,  but  the  sea  was 
running  as  high  as  ever,  and  all  Captain  Kettle's  skill 
was  required  to  prevent  the  boat  from  being  incon- 
tinently swamped.  McTodd  and  the  two  Portu- 
guese baled  incessantly,  but  the  boat  was  always 
half  waterlogged.  In  fact,  from  constitutional 
defects,  she  had  made  very  wet  weather  of  it  all 
through  the  blow. 

It  was  the  part  of  the  steamer  to  have  borne  down 
and  given  the  lifeboat  a  lee  in  which  she  could  have 
been  more  readily  handled,  and  three  times  the 
larger  vessel  made  an  attempt  to  do  this,  but  without 
avail.  Three  times  she  worked  round  in  a  wallow- 
ing circle,  got  to  windward,  and  distributed  a  smell 
of  farmyard  over  the  rugged  furrows  of  ocean,  and 
then  lost  her  place  again  before  she  could  drift  down 
and  give  the  smaller  craft  shelter.  Three  times  did 
the  crew  of  the  lifeboat,  with  maritime  point  and 
fluency,  curse  the  incompetence  of  the  rust-streaked 

steamer  and  all  her  complement. 

280 


THE  WRECK   OF  THE  CATTLE-BOAT.  28 1 

"  By  James,"  said  Kettle  savagely,  after  the  third 
attempt,  "  are  they  all  farmers  on  that  ship  ?  I've 
had  a  nigger  steward  that  knew  more  about  hand- 
ling a  vessel." 

"She's  an  English  ship,"  said  McTodd,  "  and 
delicate.  They're  nursing  her  in  the  engine-room. 
Look  at  the  way  they  throttle  her  down  when  she 
races." 

**  The  fools  on  her  upper  bridge  are  enough  for 
me  too  look  at,"  Kettle  retorted.  "  Why  didn't 
they  put  a  sailorman  aboard  of  her  before  she  was 
kicked  out  of  port  ?  By  James,  if  we'd  a  week's 
water  and  victual  with  us  in  the  lifeboat  here,  I'd 
beat  back  for  the  Canaries  as  we  are,  and  keep  clear 
of  that  tin  farmyard  for  bare  safety's  sake." 

"  We  haven't  a  crumb  nor  a  drink  left,"  said  the 
engineer,  "  and  I'd  not  recommend  this  present 
form  of  conveyance  to  the  insurance  companies." 
A  wave-top  came  up  from  the  tireless  grey  sea,  and 
slapped  green  and  cold  about  his  neck  and  shoulders 
— "  Gosh  !  There  comes  more  of  the  Atlantic  to 
bale  back  into  place.  Mon,  this  is  no'  the  kind  of 
navigation  I  admire." 

Meanwhile  the  clumsy  tramp-steamer  had  gone 
round  in  a  jagged  circle  of  a  mile's  diameter,  and 
was  climbing  back  to  position  again  over  the  hills 
and  dales  of  ocean.  She  rolled,  and  she  pitched, 
and  she  wallowed  amongst  the  seas,  and  to  the  lay 
mind  she  would  have  seemed  helplessness  personi- 
fied. But  to  the  expert  eye  she  showed  defects  in 
her  handling  with  every  sheer  she  took  amongst 
the  angry  waste  of  waters. 

"  Old  man  and  the  mates  must  be  staying  down 


282  ADVENTURES  OF  CAPTAIN  KETTLE. 

below  out  of  the  wet,"  said  Kettle  contemptuously 
as  he  gazed.  "  Looks  as  if  they've  left  some  sort  of 
a  cheap  Dutch  quartermaster  on  the  upper  bridge  to 
run  her.  Don't  tell  me  there's  an  officer  holding  an 
English  ticket  in  comm.and  of  that  steamer.  They 
aren't  going  to  miss  us  this  time  though  if  they 
know  it." 

"  Looks  like  as  if  they  were  going  to  soss  down 
slap  on  top  of  us,"  said  McTodd,  and  set  to  taking 
off  his  coat  and  boots. 

But  the  cattle  steamer,  if  not  skilfully  handled,  at 
any  rate  this  time  had  more  luck.  She  worked  her 
way  up  to  windward  again,  and  then  fell  off  into  the 
trough,  squattering  down  almost  out  of  sight  one 
minute,  and,  in  fact,  showing  little  of  herself  except 
a  couple  of  stumpy,  untidy  masts  and  a  brine-washed 
smoke  stack  above  the  seascape,  and  being  heaved 
up  almost  clear  the  next  second,  a  picture  of  rust- 
streaks  and  yellow  spouting  scuppers. 

Both  craft  drifted  to  leeward  beforethe  wind,  but 
the  steamer  offered  most  surface,  and  moved  the 
quicker,  which  was  the  object  of  the  manoeuvre.  It 
seemed  to  those  in  the  lifeboat  that  they  were  not 
going  to  be  missed  this  time,  and  so  they  lowered 
away  their  sodden  canvas,  shipped  tholepins,  and 
got  out  their  oars.  The  two  Portuguese  firemen 
did  not  assist  at  first,  preferring  to  sit  in  a  semi-dazed 
condition  on  the  wet  floor  gratings ;  but  McTodd 
and  Kettle  thumped  them  about  the  head,  after  the 
time-honoured  custom,  till  they  turned  to,  and  so 
presently  the  lifeboat,  under  three  straining  oars, 
was  holding  up  towards  her  would-be  deliverer. 

A  man  on  the  cattle  boat's  upper  bridge  was  ex- 


THE   WRECK   OF  THE   CATTLE-BOAT.  283 

hibiting  himself  as  a  very  model  of  nervous  inca- 
pacity, and  two  at  any  rate  of  the  castaways  in  the 
lifeboat  were  watching  him  with  grim  scorn. 

"  Keeping  them  on  the  dance  in  the  engine-room, 
isn't  he  ?  "  said  McTodd.  "  He's  rung  that  telegraph 
bell  fifteen  different  ways  this  last  minute." 

"  That  man  isn't  fit  to  skipper  anything  that  hasn't 
got  a  tow-rope  made  fast  ahead,"  said  Kettle  con- 
temptuously. "  He  hasn't  the  nerve  of  a  pound  of 
putty." 

"  I'm  thinicing  we  shall  lose  the  boat.  They'll 
never  get  her  aboard  in  one  piece." 

"  If  we  get  amongst  their  cow  pens  with  our  bare 
lives  we  shall  be  lucky.  They're  going  to  heave  us 
a  line.     Stand  by  to  catch  it,  quick." 

The  line  was  thrown  and  caught.  The  cattle- 
steamer  surged  up  over  a  huge  rolling  sea,  show- 
ing her  jagged  bilge-chocks  clear ;  and  then  she 
squelched  down  again,  dragging  the  lifeboat  close 
in  a  murderous  cuddle,  which  smashed  in  one  of  her 
sides  as  though  it  had  been  made  from  egg-shell. 
Other  lines  were  thrown  by  the  hands  who  stood 
against  the  rail  above,  and  the  four  men  in  the 
swamping  boat  each  seized  an  end. 

Half  climbing,  half  hoisted  from  above,  they  made 
their  way  up  the  rusted  plating,  and  the  greedy 
waves  from  underneath  sucked  and  clamoured  at 
their  heels.  It  was  quite  a  toss-up  even  then 
whether  they  would  be  dragged  from  their  hold  ;  but 
human  muscles  can  put  forth  desperate  efforts  in 
these  moments  of  desperate  stress ;  and  they  reached 
the  swaying  deck  planks,  bruised,  and  breathless, 
and  gasping,  but  for  the  time  being  safe. 


284  ADVENTURES   OF  CAPTAIN   KETTLE. 

The  cattle-boat's  mate  who  had  been  assisting 
their  arrival,  sorted  them  into  castes  with  ready  per- 
ception. "  Now,  you  two  Dagos,"  he  said  to  the 
Portuguese,  "get  away  forrard — port  side — and  bid 
some  of  our  firemen  to  give  you  a  bunk.  I'll  tell 
the  steward  to  bring  you  along  a  tot  of  rum  directly." 
He  cljpped  a  friendly  hand  on  McTodd's  shoulder. 
"  Bo's'n,"  he  said,  "  take  this  gentleman  down  to 
the  mess-room,  and  pass  the  word  to  one  of  the  en- 
gineers to  come  and  give  him  a  welcome."  And 
then  he  turned  as  to  an  equal,  and  shook  Kettle  by 
the  hand.  "Very  glad  to  welcome  you  aboard,  old 
fellow — beg  pardon,  'Captain'  I  should  have  said  ; 
didn't  see  the  lace  on  your  sleeve  before.  Come 
below  with  me.  Captain,  and  I'll  fix  you  up  with 
some  dry  things  outside,  and  some  wet  things  in, 
before  we  have  any  further  chatter." 

"  Mr.  Mate,"  said  Kettle,  "  you're  very  polite, 
but  hadn't  I  better  go  up  on  to  the  bridge  and  say 
'  howdy  '  to  the  skipper  first  ?  " 

The  mate  of  the  cattle-boat  grinned  and  tucked 
his  arm  inside  Captain  Kettle's,  and  dragged  him 
off  with  kindly  force  towards  the  companion-way- 
'*Take  the  synch  from  me.  Captain,  and  don't 
The  old  man's  in  such  a  mortal  fear  for  the  ship 
that  he's  fair  crying  with  it.  If  he'd  had  his  way,  l 
don't  fancy  he'd  have  seen  your  boat  at  all.  He 
said  it  was  suicide  to  try  and  pick  you  up  with  such 
a  sea  running.  But  the  second  mate  and  I  put  in 
some  ugly  talk,  and  so  he  just  had  to  do  it.  Here's 
the  companion.     Step  inside,  and  I'll  shut  the  door." 

'*  Pretty  sort  of  captain  to  let  his  mates  boss 
him." 


THE   WRECK   OF  THE   CATTLE-BOAT.  285 

**  Quite  agree  with  you,  Captain  :  quite  agree 
with  you  all  the  way.  But  that's  what's  done  on 
this  ship,  and  there's  no  getting  over  it.  It's  not 
to  my  liking  either — I'm  an  old  Cotiway  boy,  and 
was  brought  up  to  respect  discipline.  However,  I 
daresay  you'll  see  for  yourself  how  things  run  be- 
fore we  dump  you  back  on  dry  mud  again.  Now. 
here  we  are  at  my  room,  and  there's  a  change  of 
clothes  in  that  drawer  beneath  the  bed,  and  under- 
wear below  the  settee  here.  You  and  I  are  much 
of  a  build,  and  the  kit's  quite  at  your  service  till 
your  own  is  dry  again." 

The  mate  was  back  again  in  ten  minutes — drip- 
ping, cheerful,  hospitable.  "Holy  tailors!"  said 
he,  "how  you  do  set  off  clothes!  Those  old  duds 
came  out  of  a  slop-chest  once,  and  I've  been  ashamed 
of  their  shabbiness  more  years  than  I  care  to  think 
about;  but  you've  a  way  of  carrying  them  that 
makes  them  look  well-fitting  and  quite  new.  Well, 
I  tell  you  I'm  pleased  to  see  a  spruce  man  on  this 
ship.  Come  into  the  cabin  now  and  peck  a  bit.  I 
ordered  you  a  meal,  and  I  saw  the  steward  as  I  came 
past  the  door  trying  to  hold  it  down  in  the  fiddles. 
The  old  girl  can  roll  a  bit,  can't  she?" 

**  I  should  say  your  farmyard's  getting  well 
churned  up." 

"  You  should  just  go  into  those  cattle  decks  and 
see.  It's  just  Hades  for  the  poor  brutes.  We're 
out  of  the  River  Plate,  you  know,  and  we've  carried 
bad  weather  with  us  ever  since  we  got  our  anchors. 
The  beasts  were  badly  stowed,  and  there  were  too 
many  of  them  put  aboard.  The  Old  Man  grumbled, 
but  the    shippers  didn't  take    any  notice    of  him. 


286  ADVENTURES  OF  CAPTAIN  KETTLE. 

They'd  signed  for  the  whole  ship,  and  they  just 
crammed  as  many  sheep  and  cows  into  her  as  she'd 
hold." 

"  You'll  have  the  Cruelty  to  Animals  people  on 
board  of  you  before  you're  docked,  and  then  your 
skipper  had  better  look  out." 

"  He  knows  that,  Captain,  quite  as  well  as  you 
do,  and  there  isn't  a  man  more  sorry  for  himself  in 
all  the  Western  Ocean.  He'll  be  fined  heavily,  and 
have  his  name  dirtied,  so  sure  as  ever  he  sets  a  foot 
ashore.  Legally,  I  suppose,  he's  responsible;  but 
really  he's  no  more  to  blame  than  you.  He  is  part 
of  the  ship,  just  as  the  engines,  or  the  mates,  or  the 
tablespoons  are  ;  and  the  whole  bags  o'  tricks  was 
let  by  wire  from  Liverpool  to  a  South  American 
Dago.  If  he'd  talked,  he'd  have  got  the  straight 
kick-out  from  the  owners,  and  no  further  argument. 
You  see  they  are  little  bits  of  owners." 

"  They're  the  worst  sort." 

"  It  doesn't  matter  who  they  are.  A  skipper  has 
got  to  do  as  he's  told." 

"  Yes,"  said  Kettle  with  a  sigh,  "  I  know  that." 

"  Well,"  said  the  mate,  "  you  may  thank  your 
best  little  star  that  you're  onl^  here  as  a  passenger. 
The  grub's  beastly,  the  ship  stinks,  the  cook's  a 
fool,  and  everthing's  as  uncomfortable  as  can  be. 
But  there's  one  fine  amusement  ahead  of  you,  and 
that's  try  and  cheer  up  the  other  passenger." 

"  Stowaway  ?  " 

"No,  bond  fide  passenger,  if  you  can  imagine  any- 
one being  mug  enough  to  book  a  room  on  a  foul 
cattleJoaded  tramp  like  this.  But  I  guess  it  wa? 
because  she  was  hard  up.     She  was  a  governess,  or 


THE  WRECK  OF  THE   CATTLE-BOAT.  28/ 

something  of  that  sort,  in  Buenos  Ayres,  lost  her 
berth,  and  wanted  to  get  back  again  cheap.  I  guess 
we  could  afford  to  cut  rates  and  make  a  profit 
there." 

"  Poor  lady." 

"  I've  not  seen  much  of  her  myself.  The  second 
mate  and  I  are  most  of  the  crew  of  this  ship  (as  the 
Old  Man  objects  to  our  driving  the  regular  deck- 
hands), and  when  we're  not  at  work,  we're  asleep. 
I  can't  stop  and  introduce  you.  You  must  chum 
on.     Her  name's  Carnegie." 

"Miss  Carnegie,"  Kettle  repeated,  "that  sounds 
familiar.     Does  she  write  poetry  ?" 

The  mate  yawned.  "  Don't  know.  Never  asked 
her.     But  perhaps  she  does.     She  looks  ill  enough." 

The  mate  went  off  to  his  room  then,  turned  in, 
all  standing,  and  was  promptly  asleep.  Kettle, 
with  memories  of  the  past  refreshed,  took  paper 
and  a  scratchy  pen,  and  fell  to  concocting  verse. 

He  wondered,  and  at  the  same  time  he  half 
dreaded,  whether  this  was  the  same  Miss  Carnegie 
whom  he  had  known  before.  In  days  past  she  had 
given  him  a  commission  to  liberate  her  lover  from 
the  French  penal  settlement  of  Cayenne.  With  in- 
finite danger  and  difficulty  he  had  wrenched  the 
man  free  from  his  warders,  and  then,  finding  him  a 
worthless  fellow,  had  by  force  married  him  to  an 
old  Jamaican  negress,  and  sent  the  girl  their  mar- 
riage lines  as  a  token  of  her  release.  He  had  had  no 
word  or  sign  from  her  since,  and  was  in  some  dread 
now  lest  she  might  bitterly  resent  the  liberty  he  had 
taken  in  meddling  so  far  with  her  affairs. 

However,  like  it  or  not,  there  was  no  avoiding  the 


288  ADVENTURES  OF  CAPTAIN   KETTLE. 

meeting  now,  and  so  he  went  on — somewhat  fever. 
ishly — with  his  writing. 

The  squalid  meal  entitled  tea  came  on,  and  he 
had  to  move  his  papers.  A  grimy  steward  spread  a 
dirty  cloth,  wetted  it  liberally  with  water,  and 
shipped  fiddles  to  try  and  induce  the  tableware  to 
keep  in  place  despite  the  rolling.  The  steward 
mentioned  that  none  of  the  officers  would  be  down, 
that  the  two  passengers  would  meal  together,  and  in 
fact  did  his  best  to  be  affable  ;  but  Kettle  listened 
with  cold  inattention,  and  the  steward  began  to  wish 
him  over  the  side  whence  he  had  come. 

The  laying  of  the  table  was  ended  at  last.  The 
steward  put  on  his  jacket,  clanged  a  bell  in  the  alley 
way,  and  then  came  back  and  stood  swaying  in  the 
middle  of  the  cabin,  armed  with  a  large  tin  teapot, 
all  ready  to  commence  business.  So  heavy  was  the 
roll,  that  at  times  he  had  to  put  his  hand  on  the 
floor  for  support. 

Captain  Kettle  watched  the  door  with  a  haggard 
face.  He  was  beginning  to  realise  that  an  emotion 
was  stirred  within  him  that  should  have  no  place  in 
his  system.  He  told  himself  sternly  that  he  was  a 
married  man  with  a  family  ;  that  he  had  a  deep  af- 
fection for  both  his  wife  and  children  ;  that,  in  cold 
fact,  he  had  seen  Miss  Carnegie  in  the  flesh  but 
once  before.  But  there  was  no  getting  over  the 
memory  that  she  made  poetry,  a  craft  that  he  adored  ; 
and  he  could  not  forget  that  she  had  already  lived 
in  his  mind  for  more  months  than  he  dared   count. 

His  conscience  took  him  by  the  ear,  and  sighed 
out  the  word  Love.  On  the  instant,  all  his  pride 
of  manhood  was  up  in  arms,  and  he   rejected  the 


THE   WRECK   OF  THE   CATTLE-BOAT.  289 

imputation  with  scorn  ;  and  then,  after  some  thought, 
formulated  his  liking  for  the  girl  in  the  term  Interest. 
But  he  knew  full  well  that  his  sentiment  was  some- 
thing deeper  than  that.  His  chest  heaved  when  he 
thought  of  her. 

Then,  in  the  distance  he  heard  her  approaching. 
He  wiped  the  moisture  from  his  face  with  the  mate's 
pocket-handkerchief.  Above  the  din  of  the  seas 
and  the  noises  from  the  crowded  cattle-pens  outside, 
he  could  make  out  the  faint  rustle  of  draperies,  and 
the  uncertain  footsteps  of  someone  painfully  making 
a  way  along,  hand  over  hand  against  the  bulkheads. 
A  bunch  ot  fingers  appeared  round  the  jamb  of  a 
door,  slender  white  fingers,  one  of  them  decked 
with  a  queer  old  ring,  which  he  had  seen  just  once 
before,  and  had  pictured  a  thousand  times  since. 
And  then  the  girl  herself  stepped  out  into  the  cabin, 
swaying  to  the  roll  of  the  ship. 

She  nodded  to  him  with  instant  recognition.  **  It 
was  you  they  picked  up  out  of  the  boat?  Oh  I  am 
so  glad  you  are  safe." 

Kettle  strode  out  towards  her  on  his  steady  sea 
legs,  and  stood  before  her,  still  not  daring  to  take 
her  hand.  "  You  have  forgiven  me  ?  "  he  murmured. 
*'  What  I  did  was  a  liberty,  I  know,  but  if  I  had 
not  liked  you  so  well,  I  should  not  have  dared  to 
do  it." 

She  cast  down  her  eyes  and  flushed.  "  You  are 
the  kindest  man  I  ever  met,"  she  said.  "  The  very 
kindest."  She  took  his  hand  in  both  hers,  and 
gripped  it  with  nervous  force.  "  I  shall  never  for- 
get what  you  did  for  me.  Captain." 

The  grimy  steward  behind  them  coughed  and 
'9 


290  ADVENTURES   OF   CAPTAIN   KETTLE. 

rattled  the  teapot  lid,  and  so  they  sat  themselves  at 
the  table  and  the  business  of  tea  began.  All  of  the 
ship's  officers  were  either  looking  after  the  work  en- 
tailed by  the  heavy  weather  on  deck,  or  sleeping 
the  sleep  of  utter  exhaustion  in  their  bunks ;  and  so 
none  joined  them  at  the  meal.  But  the  steward  in- 
cessantly hovered  at  their  elbows,  and  it  was  only 
during  his  fitful  absences  that  their  talk  was  any- 
thing like  unrestrained. 

"You  said  you  liked  poetry,"  the  girl  whispered 
shyly  when  the  first  of  these  opportunities  came. 
**  I  wrote  the  most  heartfelt  verses  that  ever  came 
from  me,  over  that  noble  thing  you  tried  to  do  for 
a  poor  stranger  like  me." 

Captain  Kettle  blushed  Hke  a  maid.  "  For  one  of 
the  magazines  ?"  he  asked. 

She  shook  her  head  sadly.  "  It  was  not  published 
when  I  left  England,  and  it  had  been  sent  back  to 
me  from  four  magazine  offices.  That  was  noth- 
ing new.     They  never  would  take  any  of  my  stuff." 

Kettle's  fingers  twitched  suggestively.  "  I'd  like 
to  talk  a  minute  or  so  with  some  of  those  editors. 
I'd  make  them  sit  up." 

"  That  wouldn't  make  them  print  my  poems." 

"  Wouldn't  it,  Miss?  Well,  perhaps  you  know 
best  there.  But  I'd  guarantee  it'd  hinder  them 
from  printing  anything  else  for  awhile,  the  inky- 
fingered  brutes.  The  twaddling  stories  those  edi- 
tors set  up  a  type,  about  low-down  pirates  and  de- 
tective bugs  are  enough  to  make  one  sick." 

It  appeared  that  Miss  Carnegie's  father  had  died 
since  she  and  Kettle  had  last  met,  and  the  girl 
had  found  herself  left  almost  destitute.     She  had 


THE  WRECK   OF  THE  CATTLE-BOAT.  29 1 

been  lured  out  to  Buenos  Ayres  by  an  advertise- 
ment, but  without  finding  employment,  and,  sick  at 
heart,  had  bought  with  the  last  of  her  scanty  store 
of  money  a  cheap  passage  home  in  this  cattle-boat. 

She  would  land  in  England  entirely  destitute  ; 
and  although  she  did  not  say  this,  spoke  cheerfully 
of  the  future,  in  fact,  Kettle  was  torn  with  pity  for 
her  state.  But  what,  he  asked  himself  with  fierce 
scorn,  could  he  do?  He  was  penniless  himself;  he 
had  a  wife  and  family  depending  on  him  ;  and  who 
was  he  to  take  this  young  unmarried  girl  under  his 
charge  ? 

They  talked  long  on  that  and  other  days,  always 
avoiding  vital  questions  ;  and,  meanwhile,  the  reek- 
ing cattle-boat  wallowed  north,  carrying  with  her, 
as  it  seemed,  a  little  charmed  circle  of  evil  weather 
as  her  constant  accompaniment. 

Between  times,  when  he  was  not  in  attendance  on 
Miss  Carnegie,  Kettle  watched  the  life  of  the 
steamer  with  professional  interest,  and  all  a  strong 
man's  contempt  for  a  weak  commander.  The  'tween 
decks  was  an  Aceldama.  In  the  heavy  weather  the 
cattle-pens  smashed,  the  poor  beasts  broke  their  legs, 
gored  one  another,  and  were  surged  about  in  horri- 
ble milies.  The  cattle-men  were  half  incapable, 
wholly  mutinous.  They  dealt  out  compressed  hay 
and  water  when  the  gang^vays  were  cleared,  and  held 
to  it  that  this  was  the  beginning  and  end  of  their 
duty.  To  pass  down  the  winch  chain,  and  haul  out 
the  dead  and  wounded,  was  a  piece  of  employment 
that  they  flatly  refused  to  tamper  with.  They  said 
the  deck  hands  could  do  it. 

The  deck  hands,  scenting  a  weak  commander,  said 


292  ADVENTURES   OF   CAPTAIN   KETTLE. 

they  had  been  hired  as  sailor-men,  and  also  declined 
to  meddle,  and,  as  a  consequence,  this  necessary 
sepulture  business  was  done  by  the  mates. 

In  Kettle's  first  and  only  interview  with  the  cattle- 
boat's  captain  he  saw  this  operation  going  on  through 
a  hatchway  before  his  very  face.  The  mate  and  the 
second  mate  clambered  down  by  the  battens,  and 
went  along  the  filthy  gangway  below,  dragging  the 
winch  chain  after  them.  The  place  was  cluttered 
with  carcases  and  jammed  with  broken  pens,  all 
surging  together  to  the  roll  of  the  ship.  The  lowings 
and  the  groans  of  thecattle  were  awful.  But  at  last 
a  bight  of  rope  was  made  fast  round  a  dead  beast's 
horns,  and  the  word  was  given  to  haul.  The  winch 
chattered  and  the  chain  drew.  The  two  men  be- 
low, jumping  to  this  side  and  that  for  their  lives, 
handspiked  the  carcase  free  of  obstacles,  and  at  last 
it  came  up  the  hatch,  a  battered  shapeless  rag,  al- 
most   unrecognisable. 

A  mob  of  men,  sulky,  sullen,  and  afraid,  stood 
round  the  hatch,  and  one  of  these,  when  the  poor 
remains  came  up,  and  swung  to  the  roll  of  the  ship 
over  the  side,  cut  the  bowline  with  his  knife,  and  let 
the  carcase  plop  into  the  racing  seas.  The  chain 
clashed  back  again  down  between  the  iron  coamings 
of  the  hatch,  and  the  two  mates  below  went  on  with 
their  work.  No  one  offered  to  help  them.  No  one, 
as  Kettle  grimly  noted,  was  made  to  do  so. 

"Do  your  three  mates  run  this  ship,  Captain?** 
asked  Kettle  at  last. 

"  They  are  handy  fellows." 

'•  If  you  ask  me,  I  should  call  them  poor  drivers. 
*Vhat  for  do  they  put  in  all  the  work  themselves 


THE  WRECK   OF   THE   CATTLE-BOAT.  2C/5 

when  there  are  that  mob  of  deck  hands  and  cattle- 
hands  standing  round  doing  the  gentleman  as  though 
they  were  in  the  gallery  of  a  theatre?  " 

"  There  was  some  misunderstanding  when  the 
crew  were  shipped.  They  say  they  never  signed  on 
to  handle  dead  cattle." 

"  I've  seen  those  kind  of  misunderstandings  before, 
Captain,  and  I've  started  in  to  smooth  them  away.'* 

"  Well  ?  "  said  the  captain  of  the  cattle-boat. 

"  Oh  !  with  me  !  "  said  Kettle  truculently,  "  they 
straightened  out  so  soon  as  ever  I  began  to  hit.  If 
your  mates  know  their  business,  they'd  soon  have 
that  crew  in  hand  again." 

"  I  don't  allow  my  mates  to  knock  the  men  about. 
To  give  them  their  due,  they  wanted  to ;  they  were 
brought  up  in  a  school  which  would  probably  suit 
you,  Captain,  all  three  of  them  ;  but  I  don't  permit 
that  sort  of  thing.  I  am  a  Christian  man,  and  I 
will  not  order  my  fellow-men  to  be  struck.  If  the 
fellows  refuse  their  duty,  it  lies  between  them  and 
their  consciences." 

"  As  if  an  old  sailor  had  a  conscience !  "  murmured 
Kettle  to  himself.  "  Well,  Captain,  I'm  no  small 
piece  of  a  Christian  myself,  but  I  was  taught  that 
whatever  my  hand  findeth  to  do,  to  doit  with  all  my 
might,  and  I  guess  bashing  a  lazy  crew  comes  under 
that  head." 

"  I  don't  want  either  your  advice  or  your 
theology." 

"  If  I  wasn't  a  passenger  here,"  said  Kettle,  "  I'd 
like  to  tell  you  what  I  thought  of  your  seamanship 
and  your  notion  of  making  a  master's  ticket  re- 
spected.    But  I'll  hold  my  tongue  on  that.     As  it  ij^ 


294  ADVENTURES  OF  CAPTAIN   KETTLE. 

I  think  I  ought  just  to  say  I  don't  consider  this 
ship's  safe,  run  the  way  she  is." 

The  captain  of  the  cattle-boat  flushed  darkly.  He 
jerked  his  head  towards  the  ladder.  "  Get  down  off 
this  bridge,"  he  said. 

"  What ! " 

**  You  hear  me.  Geddown  off  my  bridge.  If 
you've  learnt  anything  about  your  profession  you 
must  know  this  is  private  up  here,  and  no  place  for 
blooming  passengers." 

Kettle  glared  and  hesitated.  He  was  not  used  to 
receiving  orders  of  this  description,  and  the  innova- 
tion did  not  please  him.  But  for  once  in  his  life  he 
submitted.  Miss  Carnegie  was  sitting  under  the  lee 
of  the  deckhouse  aft,  watching  him,  and  somehow 
or  other  he  did  not  Choose  to  have  a  scene  before 
her.  It  was  all  part  of  this  strange  new  feeling  which 
had  come  over  him. 

He  gripped  his  other  impulses  tight,  and  went  and 
sat  beside  her.  She  welcomed  him  cordially.  She 
made  no  secret  of  her  pleasure  at  his  presence.  But 
her  talk  just  now  jarred  upon  him.  Like  other  people 
who  see  the  ocean  and  its  traffic  merely  from  the 
amateur's  view,  she  was  able  to  detect  romance 
beneath  her  present  discomforts,  and  she  was  pour- 
ing into  his  ear  her  scheme  for  making  it  the  foun- 
dation of  her  most  ambitious  poem. 

In  Kettle's  mind,  to  build  an  epic  on  such  a  ground- 
work, was  nothing  short  of  profanation.  He  viewed 
the  sea,  seamen,  and  sea  duties  with  an  intimate  eye  ; 
to  him  they  were  common  and  unclean  to  the 
furthest  degree  :  no  trick  of  language  could  elevate 
their  meannesses.     He  pointed  out  how  she  would 


THE   WRECK   OF  THE   CATTLE-BOAT.  295 

prostitute  her  talent  by  laying  hold  of  such  an  un- 
savoury subject,  and  extolled  the  beauty  of  his  own 
ideal. 

**  Tackle  a  cornfield,  Miss,"  he  would  say  again  and 
again,  "  with  its  butter-yellow  colour,  and  its  blobs 
of  red  poppies,  and  the  green  hedges  all  round. 
You  write  poetry  such  as  I  know  you  can  about  a  corn- 
field, and  farmers,  and  farm  buildings  with  thatched 
roofs,  and  you'll  wake  one  of  these  mornings  (like 
all  poets  hope  to  do  some  day)  and  find  yourself 
famous.  And  because  why,  you  want  to  know? 
Well,  Miss,  it's  because  cornfields  and  the  country 
and  all  that  are  what  people  want  to  hear  about, 
and  dream  they've  got  handy  to  their  own  back 
doorstep.  They're  so  peaceful,  so  restful.  You 
take  it  from  me,  no  one  would  even  want  to  read 
four  words  about  this  beastly  cruel  sea,  and  the  brutes 
of  men  who  make  their  living  by  driving  ships  across 
it.  No,  by  Ja — No,  Miss,  you  take  it  from  a  man 
who  knows,  they'd  just  despise  it."  And  so  they 
argued  endlessly  at  the  point,  each  keeping  an  un- 
changed opinion. 

Perhaps  of  all  the  human  freight  that  the  cattle- 
boat  carried,  Mr.  McTodd  was  the  only  one  person 
entirely  happy.  He  had  no  watch  to  keep,  no  work 
to  do  ;  the  mess-room  was  warm,  stuffy,  and  entirely 
to  his  taste  ;  liquor  was  plentiful ;  and  the  official 
engineers  of  the  ship  were  Scotch  and  argumenta- 
tive. He  never  came  on  deck  for  a  whiff  of  fresh 
air,  never  knew  a  moment's  tedium  ;  he  lived  in  a 
pleasant  atmosphere  of  broad  dialect,  strong  tobacco, 
and  toasting  oil  and  thoroughly  enjoyed  himself; 
though  when  the  moment  of  trial  came,  and  his 


296  ADVENTURES  OF  CAPTAIN  KETTLE. 

thews  and  energies  were  wanted  for  the  saving  of 
human  life,  he  quickly  showed  that  this  Capua  had 
in  no  way  sapped  his  efficiency. 

The  steamer  had,  as  has  been  said,  carried  foul 
weather  with  her  all  the  way  across  the  Atlantic  from 
the  River  Plate,  as  though  it  were  a  curse  inflicted 
for  the  cruelty  of  her  stevedores.  The  crew  forgot 
what  it  was  like  to  wear  dry  clothes,  the  afterguard 
lived  in  a  state  of  bone-weariness.  A  harder  captain 
would  have  still  contrived  to  keep  them  up  to  the 
mark  ;  but  the  man  who  was  in  supreme  command 
was  feeble  and  undecided,  and  there  is  no  doubt  that 
vigilance  was  dangerously  slackened. 

A  fog,  too,  which  came  down  to  cover  the  sea, 
stopped  out  all  view  of  the  sun,  and  compelled  them 
for  three  days  to  depend  on  a  dead  reckoning ;  and 
(after  the  event)  it  was  said  a  strong  current  set  the 
steamer  unduly  to  the  westward. 

Anyway,  be  the  cause  what  it  may.  Kettle  was 
pitched  violently  out  of  his  bunk  in  the  deep  of  one 
night,  just  after  two  bells,  and  from  the  symptoms 
which  loudly  advertised  themselves,  it  required  no 
expert  knowledge  to  tell  that  the  vessel  was  beating 
her  bottom  out  on  rocks,  to  the  accompaniment  of 
a  murderously  heavy  sea.  The  engines  stopped, 
steam  began  to  blow  off  noisily  from  the  escapes, 
and  what  with  that,  and  the  cries  of  men,  and  the 
crashing  of  seas,  and  the  beating  of  iron,  and  the 
beast  cries  from  the  cattledecks,  the  din  was  almost 
enough  to  split  the  ear.  And  then  the  steam  syren 
burst  out  into  one  vast  bellow  of  pain,  which 
drowned  all  the  other  noises  as  though  they  had 
been  children's  whispers. 


THE   WRECK   OF   THE   CATTLE-BOAT.  297 

Kettle  slid  on  coat  and  trousers  over  his  pyjamas, 
and  went  and  thumped  at  a  door  at  the  other  side 
of  the  alleyway. 

"  Miss  Carnegie?  " 

"Yes." 

"  Dress  quickly." 

"  I  am  dressing,  Captain." 

"  Get  finished  with  it,  and  then  wait.  I'll  come 
for  you  when  it's  time." 

It  is  all  very  well  to  be  cool  on  these  occasions, 
but  sometimes  the  race  is  to  the  prompt.  Captain 
Kettle  made  his  way  up  on  deck  against  a  green 
avalanche  of  water  which  was  cascading  down  the 
companionway.  No  shore  was  in  sight.  The  ship 
had  backed  off  after  she  had  struck,  and  was  now 
rolling  heavily  in  the  deep  trough.  She  was  low  in 
the  water,  and  every  second  wave  swept  her. 

No  one  seemed  to  be  in  command.  The  dim 
light  showed  Kettle  one  lifeboat  wrecked  in  davits, 
and  a  disorderly  mob  of  men  trying  to  lower  the 
other.  But  some  one  let  go  the  stem  fall  so  that 
the  boat  shot  down  perpendicularly,  and  the  next 
wave  smashed  the  lower  half  of  it  into  splinters. 
The  frenzied  crowd  left  it  to  try  the  port  quarter- 
boat,  and  Kettle  raced  them  across  the  streaming 
decks,  and  got  first  to  the  davits.  He  plucked  a 
greenheart  belaying  pin  from  the  rail,  and  laid  about 
him  viciously.  "  Back,  you  scum  !  "  he  shouted  ; 
"  get  back,  or  I'll  smash  in  every  face  amongst  you. 
Good  Lord,  isn't  there  a  mate  or  a  nvan  left  on 
this  stinking  farmyard  ?  Am  I  to  keep  off  all  this 
two-legged  cattle  by  myself?" 

They  fought  on,  the  black  water  swirling  waist 


298  ADVENTURES   OF   CAPTAIN   KETTLE. 

deep  amongst  them  with  every  roll,  the  syren  bel- 
lowing for  help  overhead,  and  the  ship  sinking 
under  their  feet ;  and  gradually,  with  the  frenzy  of 
despair,  the  men  drove  Kettle  back  against  the  rail, 
whilst  others  of  them  cast  off  the  falls  of  the  quar- 
ter-boat's tackles  preparatory  to  letting  her  drop. 
But  then,  out  of  the  darkness,  up  came  McTodd 
and  the  steamer's  mate,  both  shrewd  hitters,  and 
men  not  afraid  to  use  their  skill,  and  once  more  the 
tables  were  turned. 

The  other  quarter-boat  had  been  lowered  and 
swamped  ;  this  boat  was  the  only  one  remaining. 

"  Now,  Mac,"  said  Kettle,  "  help  the  mate  take 
charge,  and  murder  every  one  that  interferes.  Get 
the  boat  in  the  water,  and  fend  off.  I'll  be  off  below 
and  fetch  up  Miss  Carnegie.  We  must  put  some 
hurry  in  it.  The  old  box  hasn't  much  longer  to  swim. 
Take  the  lady  ashore,  and  see  she  comes  to  no 
harm." 

'*  Oh,  aye,"  said  McTodd,  "  and  we'll  keep  a  seat 
for  yerself,  skipper." 

"  You  needn't  bother,"  said  Kettle.  "  I  take  no 
man's  place  in  this  sort  of  tea-party."  He  splashed 
off  across  the  streaming  decks,  and  found  the  cattle- 
boat's  captain  sheltering  under  the  lee  of  the  com- 
panion, wringing  his  hands.  "  Out,  you  blitherer," 
he  shouted,  "  and  save  your  mangy  life.  Your 
ship's  gone  npw  :  you  can't  play  hash  with  her  any 
more."  After  which  pleasant  speech  he  worked  his 
way  below,  half  swimming,  half  wading,  and  once 
more  beat  against  Miss  Carnegie's  door.  Even  in 
this  moment  of  extremity  he  did  not  dream  of  go- 
ing in  unasked. 


THE   WRECK   OF   THE    CATTLE-BOAT.  299 

She  came  out  to  him  in  the  half-swamped  alley- 
way, fully  dressed.  "  Is  there  any  hope  ? "  she 
asked. 

"  We'll  get  you  ashore,  don't  you  fear."  He 
clapped  an  arm  round  her  waist,  and  drew  her 
strongly  on  through  the  dark  and  the  swirling  water 
towards  the  foot  of  the  companion.  "  Excuse  me, 
Miss,"  he  said.  "  This  is  not  familiarity.  But  I 
have  got  the  firmer  sea-legs,  and  we  must  hurry." 

They  pressed  up  the  stair,  battling  with  great 
green  cascades  of  water,  and  gained  the  dreadful 
turmoil  on  deck.  A  few  weak  stars  gleamed  out 
pbove  the  wind,  and  showed  the  black  wave  tops 
dimly.  Already  some  of  the  cattle  had  been  swept 
overboard,  and  were  swimming  about  like  the  horned 
beasts  of  a  nightmare.  The  din  of  surf  came  to 
them  amongst  the  other  noises,  but  no  shore  was 
visible.  The  steamer  had  backed  off  the  reef  on 
which  she  had  struck,  and  was  foundering  in  deep 
water.  It  was  indeed  a  time  for  hurry.  It  was 
plain  she  had  very  few  more  minutes  to  swim. 

Each  sea  now  made  a  clean  breach  over  her,  and 
a  passage  about  the  decks  was  a  thing  of  infinite 
danger.  But  Kettle  was  resourceful  and  strong, 
and  he  had  a  grip  round  Miss  Carnegie  and  a  hold 
on  something  solid  when  the  waters  drenched  on 
him,  and  he  contrived  never  to  be  wrenched  entirely 
from  his  hold. 

But  when  he  had  worked  his  way  aft,  a  disappoint- 
ment was  there  ready  for  him.  The  quarterboat 
was  gone.  McTodd  stood  against  one  of  the  davits, 
cool  and  philosophical  as  ever. 

"  You  infernal  Scotchman,  you've  let  them  take 


300  ADVENTURES   OF  CAPTAIN    KETl'LE. 

away  the  boat  from  you,"  Kettle  snarled.  "  I 
should  thought  you  could  have  kept  your  end  up 
with  a  mangy  crowd  like  that." 

'*  Use  your  eyes,"  said  the  engineer.  "  The 
boat's  in  the  wash  below  there  at  the  end  of  the 
tackles  with  her  side  stove  in.  She  drowned  the 
three  men  that  were  lowered  in  her  because  they'd 
no'  sense  enough  to  fend  her  off." 

"  That  comes  of  setting  a  lot  of  farmers  to  work 
a  steamboat." 

*'  Awell,"  said  McTodd,  "  steamers  have  been  lost 
before,  and  I  have  it  in  mind.  Captain,  that  you've 
helped." 

"  By  James,  if  you  don't  carry  a  civil  tongue,  you 
drunken  Geordie,  I'll  knock  you  some  teeth  down 
to  cover  it." 

"  Oh,  I  owe,  you  that,"  said  McTodd,  "but  now 
we're  quits.  I  bided  here.  Captain  Kettle,  because 
I  thought  you'd  maybe  like  to  swim  the  leddy  off 
to  the  shore,  and  at  that  I  can  bear  a  useful  hand." 

"  Mac,"  said  Kettle,  "  I  take  back  what  I  said 
about  your  being  Scotch.  You're  a  good  soul." 
He  turned  to  the  girl,  still  shouting  to  make  his 
voice  carr)'  above  the  clash  of  the  seas  and  the  bel- 
low of  the  syren,  and  the  noises  of  the  dying  ship  : 
'*  It's  our  only  chance,  Miss — swimming.  The  life- 
buoys from  the  bridge  are  all  gone — I  looked.  The 
hands  will  have  taken  them.  There'll  be  a  lot  of 
timber  floating  about  when  she  goes  down,  and 
we'll  be  best  clear  of  that.     Will  you  trust  to    us  ?  " 

"  I  trust  you  in  everything,"  she  said. 

Deeper  and  deeper  the  steamer  sank  in  her  wal- 
low.    The  lower  decks  were  swamped  by  this,  and 


THE   WRECK   Of   THE   CATTLE-BOAT.  3OI 

the  miserable  cattle  were  either  drowned  in  their 
stalls  or  washed  out  of  her.  There  was  no  need 
for  the  three  to  jump — they  just  let  go  their  hold, 
and  the  next  incoming  wave  swept  them  clear  of  the 
steamer's  spar  deck,  and  spurned  them  a  hundred 
yards  from  her  side. 

They  found  themselves  amongst  a  herd  of  floating 
cattle,  some  drowned,  some  swimming  frenziedly  ; 
and  with  the  inspiration  of  the  moment  laid  hold 
of  a  couple  of  the  beasts  which  were  tangled  to- 
gether by  a  halter,  and  so  supported  themselves 
without  further  exertion.  It  was  no  use  swimming 
for  the  present.  They  could  not  tell  which  way  the 
shore  lay.  And  it  behoved  them  to  reserve  all  their 
energies  for  the  morning,  so  well  as  the  numbing, 
cold  of  the  water  would  let  them. 

Of  a  sudden  the  bellow  of  the  steamer's  syren 
ceased,  and  a  pang  went  through  them  as  though 
they  had  lost  a  friend.  Then  came  a  dull,  muffled  ex- 
plosion. And  then,  a  huge  ragged  shape  loomed  up 
through  the  night  like  some  vast  monument,  and 
sank  swiftly  straight  downwards  out  of  sight  beneath 
the  black,  tumbled  sea. 

"  Poor  old  girl !  "  said  McTodd,  spitting  out  the 
sea  water,  "  they'd  a  fine  keg  of  whisky  down  in  her 
mess-room." 

"  Poor  devil  of  a  skipper  !  "  said  Kettle  ;  '*  it's  to 
be  hoped  he's  drowned  out  of  harm's  way,  or  it'll 
take  lying  to  keep  him  any  rags  of  his  ticket." 

The  talk  died  out  of  them  after  that,  and  the 
miseries  of  the  situation  closed  in.  The  water  was 
cold,  but  the  air  was  piercing,  and  so  they  kept  their 
bodies  submerged,  each  holding  on  to  the  bovine 


302  ADVENTURES   OF  CAPTAIN   KETTLE. 

raft,  and  each  man  sparing  a  few  fingers  to  keep  a 
grip  on  the  girl.  One  of  the  beasts  they  clung  to 
quickly  drowned ;  the  other,  strange  to  say,  kept 
its  nostrils  above  water,  swimming  strongly,  and  in 
the  end  came  alive  to  the  shore,  the  only  four-footed 
occupant  of  the  steamer  to  be  saved. 

At  the  end  of  each  minute  it  seeraed  to  them  that 
they  were  too  bruised  and  numbed  to  hang  on  an- 
other sixty  seconds  ;  and  yet  the  next  minute  found 
them  still  alive  and  dreading  its  successor.  The  sea 
moaned  around  them,  mourning  the  dead  ;  the  fleet 
of  drowned  cattle  surged  helplessly  to  this  way  and 
to  that,  bruising  them  with  rude  collisions  ;  and  the 
chill  bit  them  to  the  bone,  mercifully  numbing  their 
pain  and  anxiety.  Long  before  the  dawn  the  girl 
had  sunk  into  a  stupor,  and  was  only  held  from  sink- 
ing by  the  nervous  fingers  of  the  men  ;  and  the  men 
themselves  were  merely  automata,  completing  their 
task  with  a  legacy  of  will. 

When  from  somewhere  out  of  the  morning  mists 
a  fisher  boat  sailed  up,  manned  by  ragged,  kindly 
Irish,  all  three  were  equally  lost  to  conscious- 
ness, and  all  three  were  hauled  over  the  gunwale  in 
one  continuous  dripping  string.  The  grip  of  the 
men's  fingers  had  endured  too  long  to  be  loosened 
for  a  sudden  call  such  as  that. 

They  were  taken  ashore  and  tended  with  all  the 
care  poor  homes  could  give  ;  and  the  men,  used  to 
hardships,  recovered  with  a  dose  of  warmth  and 
sleep. 

Miss  Carnegie  took  longer  to  recover,  and,  in  fact, 
for  a  week  lay  very  near  to  death.  Kettle  stayed 
on  in  the  village  making  almost  hourly  inquiries  fof 


THE  WRECK  OF  THE   CATTLE-BOAT.  303 

her.  He  ought  to  have  gone  away  to  seek  fresh 
employment.  He  ought  to  have  gone  back  to  his 
wife  and  children,  and  he  upbraided  himself  bitterly 
for  his  neglect  of  these   duties.     But  still  he  could 

not  tear  himself  away.     For  the  future Well, 

he  dreaded  to  think  what  might  happen  in  the 
future. 

But  at  last  the  girl  was  able  to  sit  up  and  see  him, 
and  he  visited  her,  showing  all  the  deference  an  am- 
bassador might  offer  to  a  queen.  I  may  go  so  far 
as  to  say  that  he  went  into  the  cottage  quite  infat- 
uated.    He  came  out  of  it  disillusioned. 

She  listened  to  his  tale  of  the  wreck  with  inter- 
est and  surprise,  She  was  almost  startled  to  hear 
that  others,  including  the  captain  and  two  of  the 
mates,  were  saved  from  the  disaster  besides  them- 
selves, but  at  the  same  time  unfeignedly  pleased. 
And  she  was  pleased  also  to  hear  that  Kettle  was 
subpoenaed  to  give  evidence  before  the  forthcoming 
inquiry. 

"  I  am  glad  of  that,"  she  said,  "  because  I  know 
you  will  speak  with  a  free  mind.  You  have  told 
me  so  many  times  how  incompetent  the  captain  was, 
and  now  you  will  be  able  to  tell  it  to  the  proper  au- 
thorities." 

Kettle  looked  at  her  blankly.  "  But  that  was  dif- 
ferent," he  said.  "  I  can't  say  to  them  what  I  said 
to  you." 

"  Why  not  ?  Look  what  misery  and  suffering 
and  loss  of  life  the  man  has  caused.  He  isn't  fit 
to  command  a  ship." 

"  But,  Miss,"  said  Kettle,  "  it's  his  living.  He's 
been  brought  up   to  seafaring,  and  he  isn't  fit  for 


304  ADVENTURES  OF  CAPTAIN  KETTLE. 

anything  else.  You  wouldn't  have  me  send  out  the 
man  to  starve?  Besides,  I'm  a  shipmaster  myself, 
and  you  wouldn't  have  me  try  to  take  away  another 
master's  ticket  ?  The  cleverest  captain  afloat  might 
meet  with  m.isfortune,  and  he's  always  got  to  think 
of  that  when  he's  put  up  to  give  evidence  against 
his  fellows." 

**  Well,  what  are  you  going  to  do,  then  ?  ** 

"  Oh,  we've  got  together  a  tale,  and  when  the  old 
man  is  put  up  on  his  trial,  the  mates  and  I  will  stick 
to  it  through  thick  and  thin.  You  can  bet  that  we 
are  not  going  to  swear  away  his  ticket." 

"  His  ticket?" 

"  Yes  ;  his  master's  certificate — his  means  of  liveli- 
hood." 

"  I  think  it's  wrong,"  she  said  excitedly  ;  "  crimi- 
nally wrong.  And,  besides,  you  said  you  didn't  like 
the  man." 

"  I  don't ;  I  dislike  him  cordially.  But  that's 
nothing  to  do  with  the  case.  I've  my  own  honour 
to  think  of.  Miss.  How'd  I  feel  if  I  went  about 
knowing  I'd  done  my  best  to  ruin  a  brother  captain 
for  good  and  always?  " 

"  You  are  wrong,"  she  repeated  vehemently. 

"  The  man  is  incompetent  by  your  own  saying, 
and  therefore  he  should  suffer." 

Kettle's  heart  chilled. 

"  Miss  Carnegie,"  he  said,  "  I  am  disappointed  in 
you.  I  thought  from  your  poetry  that  you  had 
feelings  ;  I  thought  you  had  charity  ;  but  I  find  you 
are  cold. 

"  And  you  !  "  she  retorted,  "  you  that  I  have  set 
up  for  myself  as  an  ideal  of  most  of  the  manly  virtues, 


THE   WRECK   OF   THE   CATTLE-BOAT.  305 

do  you  think  I  feel  no  disappointment  when  I  hear 
that  you   are  deliberately  proposing  to  be  a  liar?" 

"  I  am  no  liar,"  he  said  sullenly.  "  I  have  most 
faults,  but  not  that.  This  is  different ;  you  do  not 
understand.  It  is  not  lying  to  defend  one's  fellow 
ship-master  before  an  Inquiry  Board." 

The  girl  turned  to  the  pillow  in  her  chair,  and  hid 
her  face.  "  Oh,  go  !  "  she  said,  "  go  !  I  wish  I  had 
never  met  you.  I  thought  you  were  so  good,  and 
so  brave  and  so  honest,  and  when  it  comes  to  the 
pinch,  you  are  just  like  the  rest  I  Go,  go  !  I  wish 
I  thought  I  could  ever  forget  you." 

"  You  say  you  don't  understand,"  said  Kettle. 
"  I  think  you  deliberately  won't  understand,  Miss. 
You  remember  that  I  said  I  was  disappointed  in 
you,  and  I  stick  to  that  now.  You  make  me  re- 
member that  I  have  get  a  wife  and  family  I  am 
fond  of.  You  make  me  ashamed  I  have  not  gone 
to  them  before." 

He  went  to  the  door  and  oper^ed  it.  "  But  I  do 
not  think  I  shall  ever  forget,**  he  said,  "  how  much 
I  cared  for  you  once.     Good-bye,  Miss." 

"Good-bye"  she  sobbed  from  her  pillow,  "  I  wish 
I  could  think  you  are  right,  but  perhaps  it  is  best  as 
it  is." 

In  the  village  street  outside,  was  Mr.  McTodd 
clothed  in  rasping  serge,  and  inclined  to  be  senten- 
tious. "  "they've  whisky  here,"  he  said  with  a  jerk 
of  the  thumb,  "  Irish  whisky,  that's  got  a  smoky 
taste  that's  rather  alluring  when  you've  got  over  the 
first  dislike.  I'm  out  o*  siller  mysel'  or  I'd  stand  ye 
a  glass,  but  if  ye're  in  funds,  I  could  guide  ye  to  the 

place  ?  " 
30 


306  ADVENTURES   OF  CAPTAIN   KETTLE. 

Kettle  was  half  tempted.  But  with  a  wrench  he 
said  "  No,"  adding  that  if  he  once  started,  he  might 
not  know  when  to  stop. 

"  Quite  right,"  said  the  engineer,  "  you're  quite 
(hie)  right,  skipper.  A  man  with  an  inclination  to 
level  himself  with  the  beasts  that  perish,  should 
always  be  abstemious."  He  sat  against  a  wayside 
fence  and  prepared  for  sleep. 

"  Like  me,"  he  added  solemnly,  and  shut  his  eyes. 

"  No,"  said  Kettle  to  himself ;  "  I  won't  forget  it 
that  way.  I  guess  I  can  manage  without.  She 
pretty  well  cured  me  herself.  But  a  sight  of  the 
Missis  will  do  the  rest." 

And  so  Captain  Owen  Kettle  went  home  to  where 
Mrs.  Kettle  kept  house  in  the  by-street  in  South 
Shields,  that  unlovely  town  on  Tyneside  ;  and  a 
worrying  time  he  had  of  it  with  that  estimable 
woman,  his  wife,  before  the  explanations  which  he 
saw  fit  to  give  were  passed  as  entirely  satisfactory. 
In  fact  he  was  not  quite  forgiven  for  his  escapade 
with  Miss  Carnegie  or  for  that  other  involuntary  ex- 
cursion with  Donna  Clotilde  La  Touche  till  such 
time  as  he  had  acquired  fortune  from  adventure  on 
the  seas  and  was  able  to  take  Mrs.  Kettle  away  from 
her  unsavoury  surroundings,  and  settle  down  in 
comfort  in  a  small  farmstead  on  the  Yorkshire  moors 
with  a  hired  maid  to  assist  at  the  housework.  But 
that  was  not  until  some  considerable  time  after  he 
was  wrecked  with  Mr.  McTodd  on  the  Irish  Coast ; 
and  between  the  two  dates  he  assisted  to  make  a 
good  deal  more  history  which  is  (or  will  be)  else- 
where related. 

THE    END. 


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10  Gi  rl      in      Ten 

Thousand,  A 

11  Girls  of  St.   Wodes, 

The 

12  Girls     o!    the    Tne 

Blue 

13  Good  Luck 

14  Heart  of  Gold,  The 

15  Honorable  Miss,  Tho 
17  Light  of  the  Morning 


18  Little    Mother   to 
Others 

20  Merry    Girls    »f 

England 

21  Miss  Nonentity 

22  Modem   Tomboy,  % 

23  Out  of  Fashion 

24  Palace  Beautiful 

25  Polly,   A  New-FaA- 

ioned  Girl 

26  Rebels  of  the  Sdiool 

27  School  Favorite 

28  Sweet  Girl  Graduate, 

A 

29  Time  of  Roses,  The 

30  Very  Naughty  Girl,  A 

31  Wild  Kitty 

32  World  of  Girls 

33  YouLg  Mutineer,  The 


All  of  the  above  books  may  be  had  at  the  store 
where  this  book  was  bought,  or  will  be  sent  postage 
prepaid  to  any  address  at       75c       by  the  publishers 

M.  A.  Donohue  &  Co., 

701-727  South  Dearborn  St.,  CHICAGO 


Ua 


THE  BOYS'  ELITE  SERIES 

12mo,  cloth.    Price  75c  eadt. 

Contains  an  attractive  assortment  of  books  for  boys  by 
standard  and  favorite  authors.  Printed  from  large,  clear  type 
on  a  superior  quality  of  paper,  bound  in  a  superior  quality  of 
binders'  cloth,  ornamented  with  illustrated  original  designs  on 
covers  stamped  in  colors  from  unique  and  appropriate  dies. 
Each  book  wrapped  in  attractive  jacket 

1.  Cudjo's     Cave — . Trowbridge 

2.  Green   Mountain  Boys .^ 

3.  Life  of  Kit  Carson — Edward  L.  Ellis 

4.  Tom  Westlake's  GoJden  Luck Perry  Newberry 

5.  Tony  Keating's  Surprises.. Mrs.  G.  R.  Aldea  (Pansy) 

6.  Totir  of  the  World  in  80  Days Jules  Verne 

THE  GIRLS'  ELITE  SERIES 

12mo,  cloth.    Price  75c  each. 

Contains  an  assortment  of  attractive  and  desirable  books  for 
girls  by  standard  and  favorite  authors.  The  books  are  printed 
on  a  good  quality  of  paper  in  large  clear  type.  Each  title  is 
complete  and  unabridged.  Bound  in  clothene,  ornamented  on 
the  sides  and  back  with  attractive  illustrative  designs  and  the 
title  stamped  on  front  and  back. 

1.  Bee  and  the  Butterfly Lucy  Foster  Madison 

2.  Dixie  School  Girl Gabrielle  E.  Jackson 

3.  Girls  of  Mount  Morris Amanda  Douglas 

4.  Hope's  Messenger Gabrielle  E.  Jackson 

5.  The  Little  Aunt Marion  Ames  Taggart 

6.  A  Modem  Cinderella Amanda  Douglas 

For  sale  by  all  Booksellers,  or  sent  postpaid  o«  reee^  m(  76c 

M.    A.    DONOHUE    &    COMPANY 

711  S.  DEARUORN  STREET  emVAAO 


THE  "HOW-TO-DO-IT"  BOOKS 
By  J.  S.  ZERBE 

Carpentry  for  Boys 

A  book  which  treats,  in  a  most  practical  and  fascinating  man- 
ner all  subjects  pertaining  to  the  "King  of  Trades";  showing  the 
care  and  use  of  tools;  drawing;  designing,  and  the  laying  out 
of  work;  the  principles  involved  in  the  building  of  various 
kinds  of  structures,  and  the  rudiments  of  architecture.  It 
contains  over  two  hundred  and  fifty  illustrations  made  espe- 
cially for  this  work,  and  includes  also  a  complete  glossary  of 
the  technical  terms  used  in  the  art.  The  most  comprehensive 
volume  on  this  subject  ever  published  for  boys. 

Electricity  for  Boys 

The  author  has  adopted  the  unique  plan  of  setting  forth  the 
fundamental  principles  in  each  phase  of  the  science,  and  prac- 
tically applying  the  work  in  the  successive  stages.  It  shows 
how  the  knowledge  has  been  developed,  and  the  reasons  for 
the  various  phenomena,  without  using  technical  words  so  as 
to  bring  it  within  the  compass  of  every  boy.  It  has  a  complete 
glossary  of  terms,  and  is  illustrated  with  two  hundred  original 
drawings. 

Practical  Mechanics  for  Boys 

This  book  takes  the  beginner  through  a  comprehensive  series 
of  practical  shop  work,  in  which  the  uses  of  tools,  and  the 
structure  and  handling  of  shop  machinery  are  set  forth;  how 
they  are  utihzed  to  perform  the  work,  and  the  manner  in 
which  all  dimensional  work  is  carried  out.  Every  subject  is 
illustrated,  and  model  building  explained.  It  contains  a  glos- 
sary which  comprises  a  new  system  of  cross  references,  a 
feature  that  will  prove  a  welcome  departure  in  explaining  sub- 
jects.    Fully  illustrated. 

12mo,  clofh.    Price  $  1  DO  each. 
For  sale  by  all  Booksellers,  or  sent  postpaid  on  receipt  of  $1jOO, 

M.   A.    DONOHUE    &    COMPANY 

711  S.  DEARBORN  STREET  ::  CHICAGO 


GIRLS'  LIBERTY  SERIES 

Contains  an  assortment  of  attractive  and  desirable  books  for 
girls  by  standard  and  favorite  authors.  The  books  are  printed 
on  a  good  quality  of  paper  in  large  clear  type.  Each  title  is 
complete  and  unabridged.  Bound  in  clothene,  ornamented  on 
the  sides  and  back  with  attractive  illustrative  designs  and  the 
title  stamped  on  front  and  back. 

12mo,  clothene.    Price  50c  each. 

1.  Camp  Fire  Girls  on  a  Long  Hike,  or, 

Lost  in  the  Great  Northern  Woods Stella  M.  Francis 

2.  Daddy's  Girl Mrs.  L.  T.  Meade 

3.  Ethel  Hollister's  First  Summer  as 

a  Camp  Fire  Girl Irene  Elliott  Benson 

4.  Ethel  Hollisler's  Second  Summer Irene  Elliott  Benson 

5.  Flat  Iron  for  a  Farthing Mrs.  Ewing 

6.  Four  Little  Mischiefs Rose   Mulholland 

7.  Girls  and   I Mrs,  Molesworth 

8.  Girl  from  America Mrs.  L.  T.  Meade 

9.  Grandmother  Dear Mrs.  Molesworth 

10.  Irvington  Stories Mary  Mapes  Dodge 

IL  Little  Lame  Prince Mrs.  Muloch 

12.  Little  Susie  Stories Mrs.  H.  Prentiss 

13.  Mrs,  Over  the  Way Julianna  Horatio  Ewing 

14.  Naughty  Miss  Bunny Rose  Mullholland 

15.  Sweet  Girl  Graduate Mrs.  L.  T.  Meade 

16.  School  Queens Mrs.  L.  T.  Meade 

17.  Sue,  A  Little  Heroine Mrs.  L.  T.  Meade 

18.  Wild  Kitty Mrs.  L.  T.  Meade 

For  sale  by  all  Booksellers,  or  sent  postpaid  on  receipt  of  50c 

M.    A.    DONOHUE    &    COMPANY 

711  S.  DEARBORN  STREET  ::  CHICAGO 


I     Coa 


ALWAYS  ASK  FOR  THE  DONOHUE 

Complete  Editions  and  you  will  get  the  best  for  the  !east  moae!>' 


£11 


I  THERE  IS  MONEY 

IN  POULTRY 

AMERICAN  STANDARD  PERFECTION 
POULTRY  BOOK,  By  h  K.  FELCH. 

HET  many  old-fashion  farm- 
era  are  inclined  to  discredit 
the  statement.  Why?  Be- 
cause they  are  not  up  to 


the  new  and  improved  !deas  in 
poultry  management.  A  httle  trial 
of  the  rules  laid  down  in  these 
books  will  soon  dispel  all  misgiv- 
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there  is  money  in  poultry-keeping. 
It  contains  a  complete  description 
of  all  the  varieties  of  fowls,  includ- 
_  ing  turkeys,  ducks  and  geese. 

This  book  contains  double  the  number  of  illustrations  found  in 
aay  similar  work.  It  is  the  best  and  cheapest  poultry  book  on  (JA^ 
the  market  Paper  covers,  25c    Cloth,  prepaid,  ijVC 

POULTRY  CULTURE 

By  I.  K.  FELCH 

Kow  to  raise,  manage,  mate 
and  Judge  thoroughbred  fowls, 
by  I.  Iv.  Felch,  the  acknowl- 
edged authority  on  poultry 
matters.  Thorough,  compre- . 
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on  all  kinds  of  poultry'.  Cloth, 
438  pages,  large  12mo,  and 
over  70  full-page  and  other  il- 
lustrations. Printed  from  clear 
type  on  good  paper,  stamped 
on  side  and  back  from  ornate, 
appropriate  designs.^  ^^  ^^ 
Price,  prepaid,  •pl.VU 
For  sale  by  ail  book  and  newsdeal- 
ers, or  will  send  to  any  address  in 

the  United  States,  Canada  or  Mexico,  postage  prepaid,  on  receipt 
of  price,  in  currency,  money  order  or  stamps. 

M.  A.  DONOHUE  &  CO.  IS^^'J^chSaoS 


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